This night in Shanghai, 57-year-old Zhou Tao beat 30-year-old Li Xueqin in seconds. He is worthy of being the face of the country and the people of China carefully selected by CCTV. Zhou Tao, strict selection, party, Li Xueqin, Li Bingbing, Shanghai, CCTV Spring Festival Gala, CCTV host, China Central Television
Recently, the second instance of the "infant robbery case" in Tai'an, Shandong Province was pronounced. The Shandong Provincial Higher People's Court ruled to reject the appeal, uphold the original verdict, and approved the death penalty for the defendant Zeng Xiaotiao for child trafficking, with a two-year suspended execution, deprivation of political rights for life, and confiscation of all personal property. Lu Guangdong and Wang Xuyong were sentenced to life imprisonment, and Yuan Yonggui, who provided key information to Lu Guangdong and others, was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
On March 28, CCTV's "The Record of the Trial of the Home-Breaking and Robbery Case" disclosed in detail the details of the first and second trials of the case. At the court hearing of the "Home-Breaking and Robbery Case" in Tai'an, the principal culprit, Zeng Xiaotiao, flatly denied the crime.
The defendant Yuan Yonggui lived less than 3 minutes' walk from the victim's home. He participated in the baby snatching, but he completely denied the crime in court.
Defendant Yuan Yonggui
In court, the defendant's attitude was difficult for the victim's family to accept. "I have called you uncle for more than 30 years, but I didn't expect you to snatch my child away. This is what makes me the most angry." said the father of the victim Jiang Jiaru.
What kind of dehumanizing act caused a family to endure the pain of separation for more than ten years? Facing the verdict, what is the stance of the victim’s family?
Timeline of the "Infant Robbery Case" in Tai'an, Shandong
This case occurred around October 2006. Zeng Xiaotai, a child in Jining, Shandong Province, learned that Liu Mouqiang and Su Mou'e were looking for a baby boy to adopt. They wanted to steal the baby boy and sell it. They gathered Lu Guangdong and Wang Xuyong to participate in the crime, and asked Yuan Yonggui to provide information and promised to pay him. Yuan Yonggui informed villagers in the same village that Jiang Moubing's family had a newborn baby boy, and identified Jiang Moubing's family.
At about 1 o'clock on December 4, 2006, Zeng Zizi, Lu Guangdong, and Wang Xuyong climbed over the wall and entered Jiang Bing's home in Feicheng City, Tai'an. Zeng Zizi and Wang Xuyong used violence and threats to control Jiang Bing and his wife. Lu Guangdong entered the bedroom and took Jiang Jiaru (the victim, 8 months old), the grandson of Jiang Bing, forcibly taken away, and then handed it over to Liu Qiang and Su'e and his wife, and collected 28,600 yuan in cash.
In January 2024, the police used advanced face recognition technology to finally find Jiang Jiaru in Jining, Shandong, and captured Zeng Xiaotai and others in the same month.
In 2025, the first instance of Tai'an Intermediate People's Court sentenced the main criminal Zeng Xiaotiao to death with a two-year reprieve. Lu Guangdong and Wang Xuyong were sentenced to life imprisonment, and Yuan Yonggui was sentenced to 15 years in prison, with criminal compensation of 200,000 yuan. Both the plaintiff and the defendant were dissatisfied with the verdict and appealed separately.
On March 24, 2026, the Shandong Provincial High Court entrusted the Tai'an Intermediate People's Court to pronounce the second instance verdict. It ruled to reject the appeal and uphold the original verdict in accordance with the law. This ruling is final.
Victim’s family: After 17 years, they finally “succeeded in finding their son”
No penalty can make up for the damage
After the verdict of the second instance was announced, Jiang Jiaru and his mother Qiao Shoufen received the ruling and went to worship Jiang Jiaru's grandfather's grave.
Qiao Shoufen said that she hopes to open a new page in her life and continue living in the future. She described that she finally "successfully found her son" after 17 years, but there was no "victory" in this case. Because no penalty can save time and make up for the damage.
"I can only say that I feel a small sense of relief after turning the page, not to mention satisfaction. Just like when others say you have won, I will always be a loser, not a winner. Even if all four of them are sentenced to death, my child and I have been separated from each other for 17 years, and my son has suffered a lot in these 17 years. This cannot be expressed in words."
Previous missing person notices
Jiang Jiaru's family filed a criminal claim of more than 6.77 million yuan in civil claims in the original trial, and the second trial upheld the judgment of compensation of 200,000 yuan. The ruling obtained by reporters from China Voice shows that Jiang Jiaru’s parents claimed that they spent transportation, accommodation and other expenses during the search for relatives, but did not provide evidence to prove that the scope of civil compensation and the amount of 200,000 yuan supported by the original court based on the specific circumstances of the case were in compliance with legal provisions.
Li Sheng, the attorney representing Jiang Jiaru's family, said that they value the criminal verdict more than civil compensation. The second-instance verdict is a spiritual comfort to Jiang Jiaru's parents, has good social benefits for people looking for relatives, and can also deter criminals. It is hoped that it will have a good effect on the rule of law.
The ruling also mentioned that Zeng Xiaotiao, the main culprit who robbed and abducted Jiang Jiaru, refused to truthfully confess the facts of the crime after being brought to justice, and had a poor attitude of admitting guilt and repentance. During the second trial, he reported and exposed other people's crimes, which was verified by the Shandong Provincial People's Procuratorate to be untrue and cannot be regarded as meritorious service.
Currently, Jiang Jiaru is a sophomore at a university in Shandong, and is gradually integrating into the biological family of his parents and brothers. He said, "I have been confused in my heart until the police told me that I was not my biological biological child, so I decided to try to establish contact with my biological family and feel their love."
Public Security: There is no crime of “robbing babies” in the criminal law
Robbery is an aggravating circumstance for the crime of trafficking
This case was called a "baby-robbing case" by public opinion, and the crime found by the court was child abduction and trafficking. Hu Xiangyu, head of the Sichuan Public Security Provincial Reunion Studio and instructor of the First Team of the Criminal Investigation Detachment of the Mianyang Public Security Bureau, who has long been engaged in anti-trafficking and family-finding work, said that there is no crime of "baby snatching" in the "Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China", but the three forms of child trafficking include abduction, theft and snatching. From the perspective of criminal law, snatching may be an aggravating circumstance of the crime of kidnapping.
Jiang Jiaru was snatched away and trafficked when he was 8 months old, and was found through facial recognition technology when he was 17 years old. Hu Xiangyu told China Voice that compared with traditional DNA comparison, face recognition is supported by a more comprehensive database and can be more proactive. However, because the face changes greatly from infants to adults, this technology needs to be further developed and improved.
China News Service, March 28th: When a new official takes office, he cannot just burn "three fires"
The mountains are high, the roads are far away and the fields are thin, and the terrain is jagged. In the 1980s, Ningde, Fujian Province, was once known as "old, young, frontier, island, and poor", and its economic aggregate ranked last in the province.
In 1988, Xi Jinping was transferred to Secretary of the Ningde Prefectural Committee. At that time, "building the Fuwen Railway, developing the Sanduao Port, and building a central city" were the "three major dreams" that were hotly discussed in the local area.
Faced with the eagerness of some cadres to lead everyone out of poverty and become rich quickly, Xi Jinping "did not pretend to burn 'three fires'", but instead plunged into the grassroots level and visited 9 counties in eastern Fujian in one month to observe the actual situation.
After extensive and in-depth research, Xi Jinping poured "cold water" on everyone and heated up the "warm fire": the development of Ningde "must be based on reality, do not have thoughts that exceed reality, let alone be impatient", and "do the basic work first."
He regarded "getting rid of poverty" as the main line of his work, and put forward the development idea of "relying on the mountains to sing folk songs, relying on the sea to eat from the sea and reciting the scriptures of the sea", and led Ningde party members, cadres and the masses to "drop water through stone" and "weak birds fly first".
Why can't "new officials" rush to "ignite the fire"?
In the book "Escaping Poverty" published in 1992, Xi Jinping profoundly discussed, "Whether the 'three fires' should be burned, and when is the appropriate time to burn them, all must be based on reality. We must go deeper into the masses, do more research and research, understand the ins and outs of the matter, and then assess the situation, burn it when it should be burned, and never follow fashion and forcefully 'burn the fire' if it should not be burned."
When a "new official" takes office, he must not only act proactively and seize opportunities, but also proceed from reality and act according to rules.
Putting research first and seeking truth from facts have been consistent in Xi Jinping’s political practice.
In Zhengding, he set up tables on the street and took people who came to the market to do investigations; in Fujian, he followed the thorny mountain road cut with a hatchet to "enter the party three times" and took the lead in implementing the "four grassroots level" system; in Zhejiang, he traveled to 11 cities in 118 days and deployed "tens of millions of projects" based on in-depth research; in Shanghai, he vigorously promoted the spirit of truth-seeking and pragmatism, and worked hard on investigations and research...
Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, General Secretary Xi Jinping has repeatedly emphasized that investigation and research are the basis and the way to achieve things. Without investigation, there is no right to speak, and without investigation, there is no right to make decisions.
Why can't "new officials" just burn "three fires"?
When working in Ningde, Xi Jinping often said, "To develop the economy, we cannot rush to burn the 'three fires', but we must 'burn small fires with warm water, and keep burning the fire'."
"You have to work for three to five years. At this time, what matters is not your 'three fires', but your 'over the mountain'" "What we need is a step-by-step practical spirit, and we do not need the speculative mentality of new officials who only burn three fires in the hope of success"... In "Eradicating Poverty", Xi Jinping said this.
Deep thinking contains the dialectics of current and long-term, manifest and latent merit, and demonstrates the view of political achievement that "success does not have to be mine, success must be mine".
From the "Xiamen Economic and Social Development Strategy from 1985 to 2000", to Fuzhou's "3820" strategic project, and then to Zhejiang's "Double Eighth Strategy"... When working at the local level, each strategic plan formulated by Xi Jinping's leadership is a vivid portrayal of "the willingness to do the paving work and the willingness to grasp the unfinished things."
This year is the first year of the “15th Five-Year Plan”, and it is also a critical period for the successive changes of provincial, municipal, county and township leadership teams.
Since the beginning of this year, General Secretary Xi Jinping has repeatedly emphasized the establishment and implementation of a correct view of political performance. "It is good for leadership groups at all levels to be enthusiastic and motivated. The key is that the view of political performance must be aligned." "Starting from this year, local governments will change their positions one after another. We must prevent waiting and inaction as the change approaches, and rush for quick success and quick gains after the change, so as to ensure that a blueprint is drawn to the end."...
At the beginning of the game, it is of far-reaching significance to examine the "three fires" with a correct view of political performance.
|Chief Planner: Yu Lan
|Planner: Zhou Rui
|Coordinator: Ma Xueling Kan Feng
|Written by: Gao Meng
|Proofreading: Shao Meng and Li Jingtong
|Visual: Xu Yang Lei Yuzhu
|Produced by "Xi Yan Dao" Studio of China News Network
On March 29, Li Ronghao issued a message to Shan Yichun:
Li Ronghao claimed that the other party forcibly sang "Li Bai" in violation of Li Ronghao's refusal to authorize the cover. Li Ronghao said that Shan Yichun's cover in "Singer" led to him being ridiculed: "Are you here for revenge? What is hatred? Do you want me to tell you? Can you bear it?" "In just a few years, from a little girl who was scared to tears standing on the stage to yesterday's forced infringement, these are really embarrassing."
On March 28, Shan Yichun's concert was held in Shenzhen, during which she sang a cover of the song "Li Bai".
Public information shows that Shan Yichun, born on December 23, 2001 in Dongyang City, Jinhua City, Zhejiang Province, is a pop singer. In November 2020, he won the annual championship of the music program "The Voice of China 2020" and officially entered the entertainment industry. In 2025, Shan Yichun participated in the variety show "Singer 2025" and finally won third place.
On the evening of June 6, 2025, the fourth episode of "Singer 2025" was broadcast, and post-00s singer Shan Yichun became the focus of heated discussion among the audience. She changed Li Ronghao's "Li Bai" into a "game battle song": "I am an assistant, and I will come to jungle tonight." Subsequently, the topic #山yichunCrazy# became a hot search topic on Weibo.
In the show, Shan Yichun integrated the original song into elements such as electronic Chinese style, "Honor of Kings" game memes (such as "I am a support, I will come to jungle tonight"), repetitive lyrics ("What? What can I do"), and added or adapted lyrics such as "District" "Thirty thousand days apart, what can I do if I try?" "Look at how well-behaved, smart, and obedient I am, with a worldly perspective", etc., are interpreted as irony of worldly standards, echoing the self-deprecation of young people's "crazy literature" and implicitly deconstructing Li Ronghao's original song. Some viewers thought this arrangement was full of creativity, but others criticized it as "slobbery", "destroying the coherence of the song" and "losing the ethereal purity of the previous songs".
According to public information, Li Ronghao, born on July 11, 1985 in Bengbu City, Anhui Province, is a Chinese pop singer, musician, and film and television actor. His representative works include "Model", "Promising Young Man", "The King of Comedy", "Li Bai", etc.
Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, March 29, Title: Murata Akira "shakes" the ghost of militarism
Xinhua News Agency reporter
The 23-year-old Japanese Ground Self-Defense Forces officer and third-class Lieutenant Kodai Murata carried a knife with a blade about 18 centimeters long, scaled the fence with barbed wire, forced his way into the Chinese Embassy in Japan, and threatened to kill Chinese diplomats "in the name of God."
This is by no means a so-called "accidental security incident." The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department only filed the case as a misdemeanor for "illegal trespassing into a building", and the Japanese Defense Minister and other senior officials expressed nothing but "deep regret". An understatement such as this is a revelation in itself. "What kind of education are the Japan Self-Defense Forces currently conducting on China-related issues?" asked Takakage Fujita, chairman of the Murayama Dialogue for Succession and Development, pointing directly to the deep background of this extreme incident.
According to Japanese media reports, Kodai Murata graduated from the Ground Self-Defense Force Cadre Candidate School. This place is considered to be a place for training backbone officials of the Self-Defense Forces, but it is becoming a hotbed of revisionist historical views. The school's 2024 textbook was exposed to use expressions such as "the Japanese army fought bravely for a long time" to describe the Battle of Okinawa, but made no mention of atrocities such as the Japanese army killing local civilians and forcing civilians to commit suicide. It was later forced to make certain corrections due to pressure from public opinion. The National Defense University, which is the largest source of Self-Defense Forces officials, openly uses terms such as "China Incident" and "Greater East Asia War" that are full of contempt for China and "imperial view of history" in its required course "Introduction to Defense Studies", distorting the nature of the war of aggression as "self-defense against the European and American powers' invasion of Asia." In April 2024, a regiment-level unit of the Ground Self-Defense Force blatantly used the term "Greater East Asia War" when releasing official information. In addition, the National Defense University and various educational institutions frequently invite far-right figures such as Tsuneyasu Takeda, a writer who advocates visiting the Yasukuni Shrine, as lecturers. Japan's "Mainichi Shimbun" once published an article entitled "Far-right infiltration of the Japanese Self-Defense Forces: Don't retreat to "postwar resentment"", criticizing such "extraordinary practices."
Outside the classroom, the "Yasukuni view of history" that beautifies and distorts the history of the war of aggression has seriously penetrated into the Self-Defense Forces. Taking the National Defense University as an example, its students usually have to go through a long-distance "night march" to the Yasukuni Shrine, which "enshrines" 14 Class-A war criminals, to conduct a so-called "pilgrimage" to "exercise physical strength and show condolences to the heroes who protect the country." In April 2024, former Maritime Self-Defense Force Admiral Otsuka Kaio became the 14th generation priest of the Yasukuni Shrine, becoming the first top priest in the history of the Yasukuni Shrine to be served by a retired Self-Defense Force general. Among the 10 members of the advisory decision-making body of the Yasukuni Shrine, former Maritime Self-Defense Force Chief of Staff Koichi Furuzou and former Ground Self-Defense Force Chief of Staff Yoshifumi Firebox are prominently listed. The personnel channel between the Self-Defense Forces and the Yasukuni Shrine has thus become highly institutionalized. In addition, the Ministry of Defense seems to have explicitly banned collective visits to the shrine. In early 2024, the then Deputy Chief of Staff of the Ground Self-Defense Force, Hiroki Kobayashi, led dozens of people to visit the shrine in an official vehicle. The Ministry of Defense only responded with a "reprimand". The "Yushukan" of the Yasukuni Shrine, which promotes "Yasukuni's view of history," is packaged as a "history education base" for the Self-Defense Forces. In May 2023, the then Commander of the Maritime Self-Defense Force Training Fleet Yasuki Imano led more than 160 Self-Defense Force alternate cadres to pay homage to the Yasukuni Shrine in uniform. The Maritime Self-Defense Force argued that this was a "private visit during a break in training," and the so-called "training" was actually a visit to the "Yushukan".
Internal cognitive poisoning of education goes hand in hand with the external political climate. In recent years, Japan's right-wing forces have used "normalization" as a guise to forcefully push for the lifting of the ban on the export of anti-personnel weapons and seek "the ability to attack enemy bases." In their actions, they have gradually jeopardized the pacifist constitution. After the Takaichi Sanae government came to power, it made rapid progress on the road to the right. On March 14, at the graduation ceremony of the National Defense University, she played up the "threat theory from neighboring countries" and the so-called "most severe and complex security environment since World War II", and asked young officials to maintain a "sense of tension" when engaging in various tasks. The political manipulation at the top and the restlessness at the bottom of society stir up each other, forming a huge quagmire full of hostility and anxiety. When analyzing the incident of breaking into the embassy with a knife, Takao Izutsu, a former member of the Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force, believed that "the extraordinary behavior of breaking into the embassy was precisely the cognitive atmosphere within the Self-Defense Force."
Right-wing hostility is spreading, and its ambitions are by no means just aimed at neighboring countries. The hidden spearhead also targets the post-war system and the United States. Among the grassroots of the Self-Defense Forces, the idea of "The Tokyo Trial is invalid" is quite popular. Books circulated such as "Summary of the Greater East Asia War" refer to Japan's war of aggression during World War II as the "Greater East Asia Holy War", beautifying colonial rule, the emperor system and war actions, while denying the legitimacy of the Tokyo Trial. In his "award-winning" essay "Is Japan an Aggressive Country?", former Japan Air Self-Defense Force Chief of Staff Toshio Tamogami attributed the war between Japan and the United States to "a trap carefully set by the United States" and declared that "the Tokyo Trial imposed all responsibility for the war on Japan." From the perspective of "silent revanchism", the Japan-US alliance is seen as a "yoke" and "colonial" state that suppresses Japan's independent sovereignty. Therefore, Japan's right wing advocates strengthening its military power to become a so-called "normal country" and eventually get rid of the control of the United States...
Bringing a knife into a hotel is not a person's extreme behavior, but the consequences of systematic long-term indoctrination. The reincarnations of history are often surprisingly similar. A young Self-Defense Force officer who had just graduated from Cadre Candidate School and was promoted to third-class Lieutenant, left his post without authorization, traveled long distances, and brought a weapon to foreign embassies to cause trouble. His behavior pattern is very similar to the "Showa Restoration" of young Japanese military officers in the 1930s. At that time, it was those grassroots officers who were full of "imperial view of history" and called themselves "people who care about the country". Through assassinations, coups and other actions, they kidnapped the Japanese state machinery step by step and dragged Japan and the entire world into the abyss of war.
What Murata Kodai "dreamed up" was the ghost of Japanese militarism that has never gone away. The 18-centimetre "ferocious blade" in his hand is a product of Japan's right-wing political circles and the Self-Defense Forces' poisoned education system. When grassroots officials of the armed forces no longer obey the peaceful constitution, but instead challenge the bottom line of diplomacy and engage in "meat bomb" political speculation, this is by no means an occasional black swan event, but a systemic gray rhino risk. The international community must remain sufficiently alert and highly vigilant against the next possible shocking evil act. (over)
On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the launch of a certain series of products, the beauty brand L'Oréal Paris invited celebrities such as Na Lisa, Li Chuan, and Wang Zhengliang to organize a "New Year Gala".
With red as the background, comedians gathered together, it was lively, and the setting and atmosphere were full of New Year flavor.
What is even more eye-catching is that in addition to Li Xueqin, a familiar face from variety shows, the hosts invited to this party are also former CCTV female host Zhou Tao.
A post-60s and a post-90s mix and match to create a unique party.
On that day, Zhou Tao wore an apricot-colored dress with diamonds and long wavy hair. She had a plump and stylish figure. The dress was elegant and elegant on her body, full of femininity.
When she started with "Happy New Year everyone", it instantly brought the audience's memory back to the days when they watched her host the Spring Festival Gala.
If you look closely, there are some traces of time on her face, and the corners of her eyes are covered with fine lines, but her square face has superior bones, which truly explains what it means to be a beauty that never fails over time.
Everything he does is elegant and confident, as elegant and charming as he was more than ten years ago.
I don’t know if you have noticed that the current mainstream aesthetics are changing. Including the female hosts of the CCTV Spring Festival Gala, they have changed from the Zhou Zheng style to the Xiaojiabiyu style. Regardless of their hosting skills, the recognition of their faces has been greatly reduced.
But it seems that the previous host is better-looking, with a plump figure, a face that resembles the national peace and prosperity of the country, dignified and majestic, and he has a sense of weight as soon as he stands on the stage.
Even if he is waiting backstage, if he takes a casual glance, he has a strong aura and a temperament that can command the crowd.
And as soon as she takes the stage, even though she has been away from the stage for many years, her affinity and command of the scene are demonstrated, and she is still as cool as ever!
In comparison, Li Xueqin, who was born as an Internet celebrity, looks inferior.
In terms of image, Li Xueqin has made great progress this year. She has successfully lost weight, her beauty has improved dramatically, and she is now able to wear all kinds of beautiful dresses.
I saw her wearing a black diamond-encrusted tube top dress, which showed off her graceful figure. She was not white and thin, but slightly voluptuous, and very healthy and beautiful.
The hairstyle is neat and tidy, and it looks a bit more neat and tidy than in the variety show.
The hosting is fun and has a unique sense of humor.
But I don’t know if she feels a lot of pressure co-hosting with a senior like Zhou Tao, and her expression management seems a bit unnatural.
What's more, another important guest, Li Bingbing, was added midway through the party.
After 17 years, Li Bingbing once again returns to the brand’s spokesperson family.
52-year-old Li Bingbing maintains her figure as well as ever. A golden dress wraps up her good figure without a trace of fat.
The large curly hair half hanging on the chest adds a bit of mature woman's style.
The camera zoomed in, and it was false to say that there was no sign of aging on her face, but the radiant look she exuded made her really young, vigorous and vital.
Suddenly standing next to the two "big heroines", Li Xueqin seemed a little reserved all of a sudden, with an awkward expression.
When the camera shows three beauties at the same time, Zhou Tao is like a flower of wealth in the world, elegant and gentle, with a kind of quiet beauty of time.
Li Bingbing, on the other hand, is majestic, just like her journey through the film and television industry, where she has overcome all obstacles and obstacles, from actress to capital.
Li Xueqin smiled and showed humility.
His shoulders slumped unconsciously, and his smile became stiff. He pursed his lips when he smiled so hard that his lips could not cover his teeth. His grin also looked like a professional fake smile. The smile did not reach the bottom of his eyes, his facial features were not stretched, and it was not contagious.
Li Xueqin graduated from Peking University. Her academic qualifications alone make people look at her with a three-point filter. After all, she has the aura of a famous school, and most people will look up to her.
Seven years ago, she became famous on the Internet because of her advocacy for a certain fan. Later, she did talk shows, hosted variety shows, and participated in TV series and movies. From being a soy sauce to playing a leading role, her career has fully blossomed.
It is no exaggeration to say that her resources are incredible.
But it seems that she is not good at any profession. She is only average when she is a comedian, she has no outstanding works in film and television dramas, and she does not have such strong national popularity as a host.
This time she was on the same stage with Zhou Tao, and netizens reported that her beauty was outdone by Zhou Tao, who was older than her, and her hosting skills were also different.
And Zhou Tao, who is nearly 60 years old, still looks like a goddess. As soon as she took the microphone and put on a small online party, she also hosted the Spring Festival Gala.
Everyone is asking, why doesn’t CCTV Spring Festival Gala no longer invite her to the stage when her professional skills are so strong?
Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, March 28 (Reporter Liu Zan, Crown Prince Songying) As the United States and Israel continue their military attacks on Iran for a month, the Houthi armed forces in Yemen launched missiles into Israel for the first time since the outbreak of the war. This was interpreted by the Israeli side as a sign that the Houthi armed forces "joined the war".
The Houthi armed forces are regarded as the "extremely deterrent trump card" in Iran's hands. Their intervention in the war means that Iran will further "showdown" with the United States and Israel. Why did the Houthi armed forces "end" at this time, how will they act, and what impact will it have on the direction of the war and the global economy?
On February 28, in Tel Aviv, Israel, the Israeli army launched an anti-aircraft interceptor (long exposure photo). Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Chen Junqing
Why is it "ending" at this time?
The Houthi armed forces confirmed on the 28th that they "used powerful ballistic missiles for the first time" to attack sensitive Israeli military targets in support of Iran and the resistance front. "Operations will continue until the aggression ceases."
Since the outbreak of the war, as a member of the "Arc of Resistance", a regional anti-U.S.-Israel alliance led by Iran, the Houthis have expressed "full support" for Iran and said they are "ready to pull the trigger at any time." However, they have been holding back due to considerations of their own agenda and security costs.
On the 27th, the Houthi armed forces proposed three prerequisites for intervention in the war: the Red Sea is used to launch military operations against Iran or other Islamic countries, or new regional or international alliances join to support the United States and Israel's actions against Iran and the "Arc of Resistance", or the military escalation against Iran and the "Arc of Resistance" continues to expand.
One day later, as the war between the United States and Israel continued for a month, the Houthi armed forces officially came to an end. Experts believe that there are three intentions of the Houthis and Iran.
First, enhance deterrence. At present, the United States continues to increase its troops to the Middle East, and Israel continues to intensify its attacks on Iran and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Bao Chengzhang, an expert at the Institute of Middle East Studies at Shanghai International Studies University, believes that Iran's use of the "ace card" of the Houthi armed forces can ease the military pressure faced by Iran and other forces in the "Arc of Resistance", boost morale, and warn the United States and Israel not to escalate the war rashly.
Second, warn regional countries. The current stance of U.S. Gulf allies in the conflict is subtle. The Houthi armed forces' "pulling the trigger" can be seen as Iran's warning to Gulf countries not to blindly follow the United States and not to be "cannon fodder" for the United States.
Third, increase bargaining chips for possible negotiations. At present, many countries are actively mediating indirect negotiations between Iran and the United States. The "end" of the Houthi armed forces will increase Iran's confidence.
At the same time, the Houthis themselves may also feel threatened. Israel has been revealed to be negotiating security cooperation with Somaliland, which is across the sea from Yemen. Forced by the close threat, the Houthis launched missiles as a "shock".
On March 9, in the Revolution Square in Tehran, the capital of Iran, people participated in a rally to express their loyalty to Iran's new supreme leader Mujtaba Khamenei. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Shadati
Three possible strikes
Analysts believe that the intervention of the Houthi armed forces is another "nightmare" for the United States and Israel. The Houthi armed forces may have three attack targets. The purpose is to increase the casualties and economic costs of the United States and Israel, consume the United States' air defense and missile defense capabilities, and amplify the pressure of public opinion from the international community on the United States and Israel.
One is Israel’s local targets. The "Palestine-2" ballistic missile equipped by the Houthi armed forces has a maximum range of more than 2,000 kilometers and can hit targets deep within Israeli territory. This move will further consume Israel's limited air defense and anti-missile munitions, putting it under pressure from three sides - ballistic missiles and drones from Iran in the east, rockets from Lebanon's Hezbollah in the north, and ballistic missiles from Yemen's Houthi armed forces in the south.
The second is to attack US military bases and other facilities in the Gulf region. This move can not only directly threaten the forward deployment of the US military, but also continue to consume the air defense capabilities of the United States and Gulf countries. It can also further increase the trust rift between Gulf allies and the United States, forcing the Gulf countries to pressure the Trump administration to end the war as soon as possible.
The third is to harass American and Israeli ships traveling in the Red Sea. Yemen guards the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which connects the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. The Houthis have the ability to threaten and attack passing ships and even block the strait. This move may force the US military to invest additional troops in the Red Sea or disperse the deployment of existing troops.
The Stimson Center, a U.S. think tank, has previously conducted research and judgment on the potential targets of the Houthi armed forces. It believes that it is "extremely likely" that the Houthis will attack ports, airports, cities and other targets in Israel, it is "moderately possible" to attack U.S. and allied ships in the Red Sea, and it is "possible" to attack U.S. interests in the Gulf region and impose a blockade on the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
On March 11, the oil tanker was traveling in the Red Sea near the entrance to Egypt's Suez Canal. Published by Xinhua News Agency (Photo by Ahmed Gomaa)
What is the “trump card” effect?
It is still unclear to what extent the Houthi armed forces will intervene, but this latest trend undoubtedly means the further spread and escalation of the war, which will complicate the situation in the long term and may further impact the global economy.
First of all, once the Houthi armed forces "end", it means that the area affected by the war will expand from the Persian Gulf to the southern Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden where the Houthi armed forces radiate. This will increase the risk of the war escalating into a full-scale war in the region. Egyptian expert Mohamed Abdel-Wahid pointed out that the Houthis may open a new front for the "Arc of Resistance", further complicating the situation.
Secondly, the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, radiated by the Houthi armed forces, is another "throat" for global shipping. It is also an alternative channel for Saudi Arabia's crude oil exports after shipping in the Strait of Hormuz is blocked. If the Houthis blockade the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, it will be a double blow to the global energy supply and transportation supply chain.
Third, the long-term complication of the war and the further impact on the global economy and energy markets mean that the Trump administration’s public opinion pressure at home and abroad will further increase. Bertil Akkash, a scholar at Turkey's Ankara University, said that the Houthi armed forces' participation in the war is equivalent to opening up a second "strait battlefield" for this war, and greater pressure will be put on the Trump administration.
However, Bao Chengzhang believes that the intensity of the Houthi armed forces’ participation in the war remains to be seen. First, their weapons inventory is currently unknown, and second, large-scale intervention in the war may weaken the legitimacy of the Houthi armed forces in Yemen.
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