Canada says China has role to play in keeping Red Sea safe

Canada’s Foreign Minister
Melanie Joly on Sunday said China should play a role in keeping
the Red Sea safe for commerce because Chinese ships are at risk
there as well, and urged Beijing to stop helping Russia sidestep
international sanctions.
In an interview, Joly said she told China’s Foreign Minister
Wang Yi in a bilateral meeting on Saturday that Beijing needs
“to help to influence the Houthis to keep the Red Sea open.”
“It’s in China’s interests as an exporter,” Joly told
Reuters by phone on the last day of the Munich Security
Conference.
Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis have staged a series of attacks
in the Red Sea on commercial vessels, including the oil tanker
M/T Pollux that U.S. officials said was hit by a missile on
Friday.
The attacks, which the Houthis say are in support of
Palestinians in Gaza, have raised the cost of shipping and
insurance by disrupting a key trade route between Asia and
Europe used widely by ships from China. The U.S. and Britain
have both urged China to intervene through Iran to rein in the
attacks.