US military hits civil steel plant in Hodeidah, Yemen

The United States military hit a civil factory in Yemen's Hodeidah city amid its fresh round of airstrikes on the Houthi-held Red Sea port city on Monday night.

The privately-owned iron and steel plant, located in the Salif district north of Hodeidah city, was targeted by 12 U.S. missiles.

Footage recorded by a China Media Group (CMG) correspondent showed that the roof of the factory completely collapsed after the airstrike, and broken bricks and tiles, as well as shrapnel from artillery shells, could be seen everywhere.

The factory had to stop production due to the damage to the equipment.

"The attack on this plant will leave 250 to 300 workers unemployed, with material losses estimated between 13 million to 14 million U.S. dollars," said Saleh Atifa, Houthi-appointed head of Hodeidah's industrial department.

The U.S. military claimed that they were targeting military facilities, but the steel plant was completely an independent civilian plant, according to the Houthis.

"The brutal hostility of the U.S. military targets civilian facilities and other key facilities. Like the steel plant you see here, it belongs neither to the state nor to the military, nor to the security department or the Houthis. It is an independent civilian factory," said Hodeidah governor Abdullah Atifi.

Over the past two days, dozens of Houthi-controlled military sites, as well as dozens of residential houses, have been targeted and bombed by U.S. fighter jets across the Yemeni capital city of Sanaa, and several other northern and western provinces under Houthi control.

The tensions in the Red Sea are a visible manifestation of the spillover effects of the latest round of Palestinian-Israeli conflict centered on the Gaza Strip.

The renewed conflict in the Red Sea comes after Israel halted the entry of goods and supplies into Gaza Strip on March 2, coinciding with the end of the first phase of the ceasefire agreement.

On Tuesday, the Houthi group announced that it would resume launching attacks against any Israeli ship in the Red Sea, Arabian Sea, the Gulf of Aden, and the Bab al-Mandab Strait until the crossings of the Gaza Strip are reopened and aid is allowed in.

US military hits civil steel plant in Hodeidah, Yemen

China has made significant progress in pursuing sustainable development and human rights protection in recent years, members of a Chinese delegation said at a side event during the 58th session of the UN Human Rights Council on Monday in Geneva, Switzerland.

The event, titled "The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and Human Rights Protection", was co-hosted by the China Society for Human Rights Studies and the China Foundation for Human Rights Development.

Tang Yingxia, associate professor at Nankai University's Human Rights Research Center, highlighted China's recent efforts in tackling climate change.

"In recent years, China has made great progress in addressing climate change and protecting environmental rights. First, according to the Human Rights Action Plan of China, in the first one of the eight, there are environmental rights in the action plan. So we have the top policy regulation of that. And these years there are a lot of policies and matters to address climate change," she said.

Discussions also touched upon specific regions within China. Suolang Zhuoma, associate researcher at the China Tibetology Research Center, shared her perspective on the education system in southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region.

"I think the children in Xizang are very free, or they can learn a lot of courses. They can learn their native language, the Tibetan language. Also, they can learn the national common language, the Chinese language, and also they can learn English courses in boarding school. So this kind of the system gives them plural visions on their lives and their work," she said.

The side event concluded with a question and answer session and networking opportunities for experts and diplomats.

The Chinese delegation stated that the visit was productive, providing a platform to communicate China's perspective on human rights development to a global audience. They also emphasized the importance of exchanging views and learning about human rights situations in other countries.

The 58th regular session of the Human Rights Council is taking place in Geneva from February 24 to April 4, 2025.

China makes progress in advancing sustainable development, human rights protection