October 22, 2026

China and Djibouti have released a joint communique as Middle East tensions are spilling over into the Red Sea, imperiling regional security and trade. It underscores the importance of upholding freedom of navigation in the Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, and urges extra-regional powers to refrain from arbitrarily resorting to the use of force and unilateral sanctions so as to prevent further escalation of regional tensions.

The joint communique, released by China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday, followed a meeting in Beijing on Wednesday between Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Abdoulkader Houssein Omar, Djibouti's Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. 

Djibouti, located in the Horn of Africa and separated from Yemen by the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, commands the critical waterway connecting the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean, giving it great strategic significance. 

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https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202610/1372800.shtml