This fact check will be targeted at @ComradeSalad@lemmygrad.ml’s claims about “Operation Prosperity Guardian” (abbreviated to “Operation” below) in this post, the relevant claims are highlighted in bold below from excerpts of his comments in that post:

• https://lemmygrad.ml/comment/3276363

  • This is misinformation and rage bait, as much as the US military would probably froth at the mouth to start more wars, this is simply deliberately untrue. The only declaration from the US about Yemen thus far been that UN naval assets (Chinese, American, British, French ships so far) will be mobilized to closely escort shipping through the strait and Red Sea, and that those assets have authorization to fire upon inbound pirates, missiles, and drones. The operation is titled Operation Prosperity Guardian if anyone is curious.

  • This was decided upon at the UN Security Council, and composes 38 different nations, this is not simply a US military decision. The directive simply creates a dedicated task force from assets originally assigned to patrol in the Indian Ocean, and along the Somali coast, into dedicated escort units. The taskforce itself is also simply a redeployment of a taskforce that was headed by the Egyptian Navy until earlier this year when the Egypt ceded leadership of that particular task force.

• https://lemmygrad.ml/comment/3277422

  • I agree, but this is not increasing the presence of Western assets. Those assets were already there for a purpose dictated by the UN and not under Western control. Unless you consider Chinese and Russian naval officers to be “Western control”.

  • It hasn’t even broken the news in the US, so I doubt that really meets the criteria of preparing for war. Along with the fact that China and Russia both signed off on this despite their veto power. Not to mention that what the Houthis are doing is still international piracy, and while myself and most of Lemmygrad agrees with it, it is still in violation of international law, so this move is a logical next step.

• https://lemmygrad.ml/comment/3277474

  • Chinese involvement would be more or less guaranteed though, firstly as they signed off on the Operation despite their Security Council veto power, and along with the US and France, they operate the largest UN air and naval force in Djibouti.

  • Your understanding about what the Houthis have been doing is correct, and while it is a good cause, it is still in violation of international law, while simultaneously threatening the economies of a vast number of nations. That puts it a bit into perspective about why China and Russia haven’t taken to kindly to the strikes, and why international opinion is particularly cold, even from Pro-Palestine nations. It is allying with the Western world, but I doubt Chinese officials would take to kindly to a major threat to one of the worlds largest maritime logistics points, especially as they are an exporter nation and rely on their goods making it cheaply and quickly to their target nations.

• https://lemmygrad.ml/comment/3277744

  • Its not just the “war” designation. The way they describe it in the Tweet harkens images of the Invasion of Iraq, Vietnam, Somalia, or countless other bloody conflicts in which millions died at the hands of combined offensives. Not the UN dispatching 4 destroyers to escort merchant ships in a story that is barely a footnote in the news. This is needless sensationalism and looks like crying wolf.

  • You make it sound as if the US is using the UN as pretext to annex Yemen, which if that was the case, do you think that the other members on the Security Council might have some objections and would have used their veto power? Do you think China would allow the US to use the naval assets they requisitioned for this operation, and are currently under the command of a US Navy officer, to aggressively strike the Houthis?

• https://lemmygrad.ml/comment/3278450

  • Further, China has far more then three ships in the region, three ships is actually the confirmed American contribution to the task force. The rest of the composition is unknown.

  • Because they are considered UN assets requisitioned for anti piracy duty, unless China withdrawals diplomatically from the operations in the Red Sea and Indian Ocean, they cannot willing ignore orders from the task force unless the orders violate international law. The ships aren’t “Chinese” when they are participating, they’re UN, hence the international officers corp leading the task force and ships.

  • China is part of the operations in those waters willingly and have been for decades, hence their very own port, military base, and airport in Djibouti that were built for them.

• https://lemmygrad.ml/comment/3278989 (In reply to a comment that says “China is not a part of Operation Prosperity Guardian.”

  • They are one of the 34 nations whose ships make up CTF 153. Even if they do not directly support or sponsee the operation, the PLAN is still a part of it.

From the various claims I have highlighted above, it seems like @ComradeSalad is making these points which I will disprove:

1. The Operation has been approved by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) and is not just a US-led operation, and naval assets involved are thus operating under the UN.
2. China is part of Combined Task Force 153 (CTF 153).
3. China’s naval ships are involved in the Operation.
4. US, France and China jointly operate military bases in Djibouti under the UN.

Point 1

(The Operation has been approved by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) and is not just a US-led operation, and naval assets involved are thus operating under the UN.)

The UNSC provides UN Security Council Meetings & Outcomes Tables on their website, and I have not found any resolutions in the past month that authorizes the Operation.

The UNSC has authorizated counter-piracy efforts off the coast of Somalia (in the Gulf of Aden) every year from 2008 to 2021:

• Unanimously Adopting Resolution 2608 (2021), Security Council Renews Authorization for International Naval Forces Fighting Piracy off Coast of Somalia
• S/RES/2608 (2021)

  • Recalling its previous resolutions concerning the situation in Somalia, especially resolutions 1814 (2008), 1816 (2008), 1838 (2008), 1844 (2008), 1846 (2008), 1851 (2008), 1897 (2009), 1918 (2010), 1950 (2010), 1976 (2011), 2015 (2011), 2020 (2011), 2077 (2012), 2125 (2013), 2184 (2014), 2246 (2015), 2316 (2016), 2383 (2017), 2442 (2018), 2500 (2019), and 2554 (2020)

  • 14. Decides that, for a further period of 3 months from the date of this resolution to renew the authorizations as set out in paragraph 14 of resolution 2554 (2020) granted to States and regional organizations cooperating with Somali authorities in the fight against piracy and armed robbery at sea off the coast of Somalia, for which advance notification has been provided by Somali authorities to the Secretary-General;

  • 15. Affirms that the authorizations renewed in this resolution apply only with respect to the situation in Somalia and shall not affect the rights, obligations, or responsibilities of Member States under international law, including any rights or obligations under The Convention, with respect to any other situation, and underscores in particular that this resolution shall not be considered as establishing customary international law; and affirms further that such authorizations have been renewed in response to the 2 December 2021 letter conveying the request of Somali authorities;

On the other hand, here are excerpts from the US Department of Defense’s news release regarding the CMF, CTF 153, and the Operation:

• 2023-12-18 Statement from Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III on Ensuring Freedom of Navigation in the Red Sea:

  • I am announcing the establishment of Operation Prosperity Guardian, an important new multinational security initiative under the umbrella of the Combined Maritime Forces and the leadership of its Task Force 153, which focuses on security in the Red Sea.

  • Operation Prosperity Guardian is bringing together multiple countries to include the United Kingdom, Bahrain, Canada, France, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Seychelles and Spain, to jointly address security challenges in the southern Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, with the goal of ensuring freedom of navigation for all countries and bolstering regional security and prosperity.

• 2023-12-19 Readout of Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III’s Virtual Conference on Red Sea Maritime Security

  • To address this unprecedented series of attacks, the Secretary urged participants to join U.S.-led and other international initiatives and work with U.S. Naval Forces Central Command (USNAVCENT) and the 39-member Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) to restore security in the Red Sea to deter future Houthi aggression. Secretary Austin pointed to CMF’s Task Force 153—charged with international maritime security and capacity-building in the Red Sea, Bab al-Mandeb, and the Gulf of Aden—as an existing multi-lateral platform that could be leveraged to deter attacks under the CMF. He reiterated that the international community is faced with an unprecedented global challenge that demands collective action. The United States will continue to consult and work alongside allies and partners, who share the fundamental principle of freedom of navigation.

• 2023-12-19 Austin Lauds Key Partnerships in Middle East

  • The security initiative—Operation Prosperity Garden—brings together forces from the United Kingdom, Bahrain, Canada, France, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Seychelles and Spain to address the challenges in the region and ensure freedom of navigation in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.

  • The forces will operate under the umbrella of the Combined Maritime Forces and the leadership of Task Force 153, a U.S. Navy-led initiative focused on maritime security in the Red Sea.

• 2023-12-21 Ryder Gives More Detail on How Operation Prosperity Guardian Will Work

  • In Bahrain, Austin announced Operation Prosperity Guardian. The operation is a new multinational security operation under the umbrella the Combined Maritime Forces and the leadership of Task Force 153, which focuses on security in the Red Sea.

  • There have been solid results: To date more than 20 nations have signed on to participate, Ryder said. “In the days ahead, the United States will continue to consult closely with our allies and partners who share the fundamental principle of freedom of navigation, and we expect to see the coalition continue to grow,” he said.

• 2023-12-21 Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder Holds a Press Briefing

  • As far as Operation Prosperity Guardian, we’ve had over 20 nations now sign on to participate. The nations that have agreed to publicly discuss their participation, we’ve put those out there. Since the announcement on Tuesday, Australia and Greece have also highlighted their participation in this operation. But again, we’ll allow other countries and defer to them to talk about their participation.

Point 2

(China is part of Combined Task Force 153 (CTF 153).)

This point is easily disproved by going to the about page on Combined Maritime Forces’ (CMF) website:

The Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) is a multinational maritime partnership, which exists to uphold the International Rules Based Order (IRBO) by countering illicit non-state actors on the high seas and promoting security, stability and prosperity across approximately 3.2 million square miles of international waters, which encompass some of the world’s most important shipping lanes.

CMF has five Combined Task Forces:

• CTF 150 (Maritime Security Operations outside the Arabian Gulf)
• CTF 151 (Counter Piracy)
• CTF 152 (Maritime Security Operations inside the Arabian Gulf)
• CTF 153 (Red Sea Maritime Security)
• CTF 154 (Maritime Security Training)

CMF has 39 member nations: Australia, Bahrain, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Djibouti, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, India, Iraq, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Republic of Korea, Kuwait, Malaysia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, the Philippines, Portugal, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Seychelles, Singapore, Spain, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Türkiye, UAE, United Kingdom, United States, and Yemen.

More on CMF:

Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) is a multi-national naval partnership, which exists to promote security, stability and prosperity across approximately 3.2 million square miles of international waters, which encompass some of the world’s most important shipping lanes.

Participation is purely voluntary. No nation is asked to carry out any duty that it is unwilling to conduct. The contribution from each country varies depending on its ability to contribute assets and the availability of those assets at any given time.

The 39 nations that comprise CMF are not bound by either a political or military mandate. CMF is a flexible organisation. Contributions can vary from the provision of a liaison officer at CMF HQ in Bahrain to the supply of warships or support vessels in task forces, and maritime reconnaissance aircraft based on land. We can also call on warships not explicitly assigned to CMF to give associated support, which is assistance they can offer if they have the time and capacity to do so whilst undertaking national tasking.

More on CTF 153:

Combined Task Force 153 (CTF 153) is one of the five task forces operated by Combined Maritime Forces (CMF).

CTF 153’s mission is to focus on international maritime security and capacity building efforts in the Red Sea, Bab al-Mandeb and Gulf of Aden.

CTF 153 was established April 17, 2022. The task force staff includes as many as 15 U.S. and international military personnel from CMF member-nations. When not at sea, CTF 153 personnel work from offices ashore at CMF headquarters in Manama, Bahrain.

Point 3

(China’s naval ships are involved in the Operation.)

China has been sending naval fleets to the Gulf of Aden since 2008/2009 to combat piracy, the latest fleet is the 45th fleet which set sail in September this year:

• 2009-01-07 Chinese fleet conducts 1st escort mission in Gulf of Aden

  • A Chinese naval fleet has arrived in the waters of the Gulf of Aden, off Somalia. The three ships have conducted their first escort mission against pirates.

  • This time, the escort area starts from the eastern part of the Gulf of Aden, and ends at the east entrance of the Mandab Strait, 550 miles in total, or about 1020 kilometers. The escort will mainly protect the safety of Chinese ships and people who pass through the Gulf of Aden and the Somalia sea area, as well as the safety of UN ships that transport humanitarian materials, like the UN World Food Program.

  • The fleet, two destroyers and one supply ship, left a naval base on Hainan island on December 26th, under authorization from both the United Nations Security Council and Somalia’s transitional government, to primarily escort Chinese merchant ships.

  • The U.N. Security Council adopted four resolutions in 2008, calling on all countries and regions to help patrol the Gulf and waters off Somalia, where surging piracy has endangered international shipping.

• 2023-09-13 China’s 45th naval fleet sets sail for escort mission in Gulf of Aden

  • The 45th fleet of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy on Tuesday set sail from a military port in the coastal city of Qingdao, east China’s Shandong Province, to take over an escort mission from the 44th naval fleet in the Gulf of Aden and the waters off Somalia.

  • The 45th fleet is composed mainly of naval troops and equipment from the PLA Northern Theater Command, including the guided-missile destroyer Urumqi, the missile frigate Linyi, the comprehensive replenishment vessel Dongpinghu, dozens of special forces personnel and two helicopters.

This does not mean that the Chinese PLA Navy is working under/with the US-led CTF 153, China’s mission of escorting merchant ships in the Gulf of Aden should not be automatically tied to the Operation.

As for China’s attitude towards the attacks in the Red Sea, the following is from Chinese Foreign Ministry’s Regular Press Conference on December 21, 2023:

RIA Novosti: The US State Department’s spokesperson Matthew Miller said earlier that the United States would welcome China playing a constructive role in trying to prevent attacks in the Red Sea. I wonder if China is ready to play more active role in ensuring security in the Red Sea region.

Wang Wenbin: The Red Sea is an important international trade route for goods and energy. Safeguarding the security and stability of the region serves the common interest of the international community. China stands for protecting the safety of international sea lanes and against causing disturbance to civilian ships. We believe relevant parties, especially major countries with influence, need to play a constructive and responsible role in keeping the shipping lanes safe in the Red Sea.

The reply probably hints at the US when mentioning “major countries with influence”, but does not say anything about the Operation nor Houthi.

Point 4

(US, France and China jointly operate military bases in Djibouti under the UN.)

From Camp Lemonnier’s about page:

Camp Lemonnier falls under the structure of Commander Navy Region Europe, Africa, Southwest Asia; which is responsible for the base’s expansion, upkeep, and logistics support.

The camp originally belonged to the artillery of the French 5th Overseas Task Force. After negotiations in 2001, the Djiboutian government allowed for the base’s use by the U.S. military. Today, Camp Lemonnier serves as a key location from which U.S. and Coalition forces operate in the Horn of Africa.

From the page titled “Forces françaises stationnées à Djibouti” of France’s Ministry for the Armed Forces website:

La présence des forces françaises sur le territoire djiboutien est encadrée par le Traité de coopération en matière de défense signé le 21 décembre 2011 entre la République de Djibouti et la France.

(Translated by DeepL) The presence of French forces on Djiboutian territory is governed by the Defense Cooperation Treaty signed on December 21, 2011 between the Republic of Djibouti and France.

A CGTN article from 2017-07-12 titled “Why Chinese Navy sets up support base in Djibouti” mentions:

Since 2008, China has conducted 26 escort missions for Chinese and foreign ships in the Gulf of Aden and the waters off the Somali coast, where international shipping is under constant threat from piracy.

During their missions, the Chinese escort vessels encountered lots of difficulties in troops’ rest and reorganization as well as food and fuel supply, Geng said, adding that Djibouti had provided logistics service to the Chinese vessels many times.

China and Djibouti agreed on the establishment of a Chinese logistics base in 2015 through “friendly negotiations,” he noted.

China will be the fourth country to have a base in Djibouti, which currently hosts military personnel from the United States, France and Japan.

Commenting on future relations between Chinese troops and those of other countries in Djibouti, Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Wu Qian said in March that the Chinese side would properly handle their relations and conduct international cooperation with military personnel of other countries in maintaining regional peace and stability.

The base will support “non-war military actions” such as peacekeeping, disaster relief and evacuation in order to protect Chinese interests and promote regional peace and stability, he added.

Seven hundred Chinese peacekeepers are serving under a force of 12,000 blue helmets in the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS).

That last line is currently the only thing I have found that relates military bases in Djibouti to the UN, and that is only one of the Chinese base’s function, about supporting Chinese peacekeepers in the UN.

Conclusion

I’d like to give @ComradeSalad the benefit of the doubt, as they may have conflated this US-led Operation in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden with the UN’s previous authorizations of counter-piracy efforts off the coast of Somalia (in the Gulf of Aden). I have not looked up which international laws or UN resolutions allow the current operations of US-led CMF task forces, or China’s naval escort missions in the Gulf of Aden. I hope @ComradeSalad can respond to this fact check as they have not replied to my comment that requested sources for the claims.

This post is certainly not a comprehensive resource to the background of various organizations and operations operating in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, but I hope this dispels the idea that China is working with the US-led operation to combat Houthi attacks in the region.