The Houthi attacks on civilian naval vessels in the Red and Arabian Seas seemed to have unintentionally helped China a great deal, a Beijing-based academic has underlined.
"In a way, the Houthis have inadvertently done China a big favor," Xiao Yunhua, a professor at the Asian giant's National Defense University in the country's capital said on social media.
The BRI is a multi-billion initiative, that offers huge amounts of money as aid to build roadways, and railways in emerging economies, connecting the old Silk Route to China.
"The expansion of the latter is precisely our international strategy to sever US hegemony, undermine American sea power, and promote global multipolarity," the international relations expert added.
Furthermore, last week's American, and British airstrikes on Houthi military centers in Yemen have the potential of stoking anti-US sentiment in the Middle East.
It is believed that a vast majority of the population in Middle East and North African (MENA) countries do not view the US favorably, considering Washington's long-standing support to Israel, which many sovereign states in the region reckon is the root cause of the Jewish state's apathy towards a two-state solution.
This allows Beijing to build goodwill there, which is already on the rise since Xi's smart diplomacy resulted in a thaw in the bitter relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia last year.