A Closer Look at the Chinese Space Company Accused of Helping the Houthis

New America Strategist and Senior Fellow and ASU Professor of Practice Peter W. Singer, examines what's known about a Chinese space company accused of aiding the Houthis in Yemen:

The Houthis were not the first of CGST’s alleged dalliances with non-state actors of ill repute. In 2023, the company was blacklisted by the U.S. government for providing similar imagery to PMC Wagner, the Russian mercenary firm previously active in Ukraine. According to the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control, a CGST subsidiary signed a contract to provide Wagner with high-res imagery of Ukraine and other areas in which it operates. Given CGST’s close connections to the PRC government and military, it is difficult to imagine it inserting itself into a foreign conflict in which Beijing has a vested interest without at least tacit approval. However, an Agence France-Presse investigation also alleges that the provided imagery may have included areas of Russia later invaded by Wagner in its short-lived uprising against Putin, perhaps providing the Chinese government with a lesson in how such clandestine support can blow back in unexpected and unwelcome ways.

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