President，

China abstained in the voting of the draft resolution just put to vote. I would like to explain China's position as follows. 

First, for some time now, the Houthis have been attacking commercial vessels in the Red Sea and its nearby waters, interfering with the normal order of international trade, destabilizing the global supply chain, and negatively affecting regional peace and stability. China expresses its concerns over this. The right of commercial vessels of all countries to navigate in the waters of the Red Sea in accordance with international law should be respected, and the safety of navigation lanes in the waters of the Red Sea should be safeguarded. The Houthis should heed the concerns of the international community and stop attacking civilian vessels. 

Second, the US and UK military operations against Yemen have been going on for a year now, causing serious civilian casualties and infrastructure damage. Recently, the Houthis and Israel are in frequent attacks of each other, escalating tensions as a result. This series of developments demonstrate that focusing only on vessel attacks is not sufficient to resolve the dilemma facing Yemen and the Red Sea. China calls on all parties to show restraint, promote deescalation, and seek a comprehensive solution. During this process, the sovereignty, security, and territorial integrity of Yemen should be respected, and attacks on Yemeni civilian infrastructure must cease. 

Third, the tensions in the Red Sea are a significant manifestation of the spillover of the Gaza conflict. We regret that the just adopted Council resolution fails to clearly indicate a correlation between the situation in the Red Sea and the Gaza conflict. At present, there has been significant progress in a Gaza ceasefire. China welcomes such progress. We hope that the realization of a permanent ceasefire in Gaza can help create favorable conditions for easing the situations in the region. 

Thank you, President.