Ex-U.S. commander sees possible tie to China in attacks by Iran-backed Houthis

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A former top U.S. Navy commander says Iran-backed Houthi militants may be using anti-ship ballistic missile technology that originated in China to carry out attacks on commercial vessels transiting the Red Sea.

Retired Adm. Harry B. Harris Jr., speaking this week at a panel discussion hosted by The Washington Times Foundation, said the Biden administration should pursue a more robust military response to deal with the surge of Houthi missile and drone attacks, which have badly disrupted commercial shipping in one of the world’s most strategic waterways.

U.S. Central Command confirmed that the Yemen-based Houthis “fired anti-ship ballistic missiles,” Mr. Harris said during an appearance on “The Washington Brief,” a monthly virtual forum hosted by the foundation.

“Where did the Houthis get this technology? Your guess is as good as mine … but China looms large as a possibility,” he said. He later qualified the remarks by saying the Houthis may not have acquired the high-tech missiles directly from China but rather via Iran, a major military supplier to the Houthis that has cultivated a burgeoning strategic relationship with Beijing.

“I’m not suggesting that China has deliberately or intentionally provided the Houthis with this capability — only that they are one of the few nations in the world which possesses this technology,” said Mr. Harris, a former chief of the Pentagon’s Indo-Pacific Command. “You can draw your own conclusions.”

His remarks, in a wide-ranging discussion on global security threats in 2024, coincide with rising unease about Houthi attacks on commercial shipping vessels. The militant group, engaged in a long and bloody civil war for control of the Middle East’s poorest country, has emerged as a key player in a widening regional conflict sparked by Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel. Hamas is another regional ally of Tehran.

Mr. Harris spoke about what some describe as a rising axis of authoritarian powers involving China, Russia, Iran and North Korea challenging U.S. dominance. The former commander said world events, including the Middle East conflict and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, are driving a “developing nexus” among the four nations.

“World events are bringing them closer together,” he said. “The war in Ukraine makes [Russian President Vladimir] Putin desperate for sources of weapons resources and, quite frankly, diplomatic friends. … And the quest for technology is bringing North Korea into alignment with Russia and Iran into alignment with both.”

Some analysts say China has taken the most active role in promoting the axis in an effort to overturn the U.S.-led economic and political system created in the wake of World War II.

Mr. Harris framed China as “the elephant in the room” when discussing wider global security threats but offered a nuanced take on Beijing’s approach regarding alignment with Moscow, Tehran and Pyongyang. Despite a slew of recent tensions, officials in Beijing say they are seeking better relations and less friction with the West.

“China, unlike Russia, North Korea or Iran, has a trade-dependent global economy…,” he said. “For now, at least, I believe Beijing doesn’t want to further alienate the U.S. or Europe.

“While China is supportive of Russia and Moscow’s war against Ukraine, Beijing is far from all in on Russia,” Mr. Harris said. “China is cautious about being drawn into a trilateral axis with Russia and North Korea, fearing that it could trigger a new Cold War that could actually advance U.S. interests in the region.”

Mr. Harris, a Naval Academy graduate who served a three-year stint as U.S. ambassador to South Korea starting in 2018, said Beijing cannot be trusted as an honest geopolitical broker.

China “doesn’t keep its word, from its treaty with the British on Hong Kong to its human rights abuses against the Uyghurs and others, to commercial espionage, the weaponization of debt, and its quest to intimidate, isolate and finally dominate Taiwan,” he said.

Recent Chinese military aggression toward the Philippines, a U.S. treaty ally, is also disconcerting, Mr. Harris said. Beijing “seeks hegemony not only in East Asia but Greater Asia and beyond,” he said.

An election to watch

Mr. Harris said Taiwan’s Jan. 13 presidential election may indicate how aggressive China will become in the region. Beijing is accused of trying to meddle in the election to unseat the governing party in Taipei, which it accuses of favoring independence from the mainland. Chinese leaders have threatened to use force if necessary to gain control of the U.S.-backed island democracy.

On Ukraine, Mr. Harris predicted “more of the same” this year but called on U.S. lawmakers to keep American military support flowing. “I believe we will do the right thing. We must,” he said, noting that half of the Russian army has been destroyed in Ukraine without any U.S. soldiers killed.

Mr. Harris predicted that North Korea will grow “more confident” in its provocations and South Korea will strengthen its military and its alliance with Washington.

He said the Middle East war will likely worsen. “I think things will continue to heat up, not only with Israel and Hamas, but I think the Houthis in Yemen, Hezbollah in Iraq, I think will continue to draw the United States into the fray.”

Houthi militants have carried out at least 15 strikes on commercial shipping vessels since mid-October.

Last month, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced Operation Prosperity Guardian, a multinational military alliance, to quell the attacks. More than 20 nations have signed onto the initiative despite major questions about its effectiveness.

The USS Dwight D. Eisenhower and two Navy destroyers, the USS Gravely and the USS Laboon, came to the rescue last week of a Denmark-owned container ship whose security team was exchanging fire with Houthi attackers. Navy helicopters ultimately sank three small Houthi boats, killing their crews.

U.S. Central Command officials said Tuesday that two ballistic missiles were fired toward international shipping lanes in the Red Sea from a Houthi-controlled area of Yemen.

Speculation about a China connection to the Houthi missiles has swirled for weeks. Mr. Harris cited a recent analysis by former Navy officer James Holmes, a scholar at the Naval War College and Marine Corps University.

“Is Beijing proliferating missile technology? It sure looks that way. … Whether it’s doing so inadvertently or deliberately is another question,” Mr. Holmes wrote in The National Interest. He said Chinese defense firms may be selling the weaponry for cash on the global black market without the knowledge of the ruling Communist Party, which has publicly expressed a desire to stem the proliferation of the powerful missiles.

U.S. intelligence is likely assessing the situation, but Mr. Harris told “The Washington Brief” that he endorsed the position of retired CENTCOM  commander Gen. Frank McKenzie, who recently argued for “a more forceful — read kinetic — response against the Houthis.”

“In my opinion, to do otherwise is to invite a Houthi-launched golden BB finally hitting one of our ships and killing American sailors,” Mr. Harris said. “The Houthis respect strength. Everything else they regard as weakness.”

• Ben Wolfgang contributed to this report.