State Department Says Chinese Satellite Company Supporting Houthi Attacks on US Interests

The U.S. State Department has dismissed communist China’s self-proclaimed role as a “global peacemaker,” saying that a Beijing-supported Chinese satellite company has directly supported the Iran-backed Houthi terrorist group’s attacks on U.S. interests.

“China consistently attempts … to frame itself as a global peacemaker,” she said.

“However, it is clear that Beijing and China-based companies provide key economic and technical support to regimes like Russia, North Korea, and Iran and its proxies.

“The CCP [Chinese Communist Party] continues to enable these regimes, whether it be through the provision of dual-use items Russia needs to sustain its war in Ukraine, North Korea’s ballistic missile development, or Iran’s support of terrorism across the Middle East.”

She said that the Chinese satellite company’s assistance to the Houthis continued even though the U.S. government had held “private engagements” with the Chinese regime on the issue.

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“Their actions and Beijing’s support of the company … is yet another example of China’s empty claims to support peace,” Bruce said. “We urge our partners to judge the Chinese Communist Party and Chinese companies on their actions, not their empty words.”

Bruce emphasized President Donald Trump’s commitment to restoring freedom of navigation in the Red Sea as a priority, adding that the United States “will not tolerate anyone providing support to foreign terrorist organizations.”

“The Houthis, their Iranian masters, and those who knowingly aid and abet their terrorist actions should be put on notice that the world will not accept illicit smuggling of fuel and war material to a terrorist organization,” the command added.

Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.), who sits on the House Armed Services and Foreign Affairs committees, took to X on Thursday to respond to the news of the Chinese satellite company’s assistance to the Houthis, pointing to the alliance that has included Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The report provided evidence demonstrating the company’s ties to the military. For example, the company’s development of its Jilin remote sensing satellites was based on Beijing’s military-civil fusion (MCF) strategy, as outlined by provincial authorities in Jilin and the Equipment Development Department of China’s top military body, the Central Military Commission.

The China Aerospace Studies Institute report also highlights CGST’s collaboration with the PLA Strategic Support Force (PLASSF) on at least one large-scale civil engineering project.

CGST is overseen by a CCP committee headed by Party Secretary Jia Hongguang, which proves the company’s ties to the Party, according to the China Aerospace Studies Institute report.

The report also reviewed the company’s CCP work guidelines posted on its website, which said the company’s Party branch should “serve the central mission of the Party.”

“Considering the prominence given to the CCP and the central role of the Party Committee on the company’s Chinese-language website, it is notable that all mention of the CCP is conspicuously absent on the company’s English-language website,” the report reads.

In 2023, CGST hosted Chinese Premier Li Qiang, who told the company to “implement the instructions” of CCP leader Xi Jinping, according to the report.

“The company was heavily supported by the PLA in its early years, and its satellites have clear applications in areas such as detection of enemy ships at sea,” it reads.

“CGST is representative of the PRC’s increasingly impressive capabilities in space and the narrowing technological gap between itself and the U.S., a prospect that should concern U.S. policymakers.”