China Joins Russia in Syria, Agrees to Provide Military Aid to Government Forces
October 21st, 2016 | by Amando Flavio
The war in Syria is taking a complete new face. As relations between the United States and Russia deteriorate, another obvious emerging superpower has been secretly operating in Syria.
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Now the country is openly declaring its support to the Syrian government, which has become the bone of contention between the United States and Russia. The United States wants the Syrian government out, while Russia wants it to stay.
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The People’s Republic of China has announced that it will provide both military and humanitarian aid to the Syrian government, in order to help them fight the rebels trying to overthrow the regime.
It is said China made this commitment to Syria back in August 2016. An unnamed high-ranking People’s Liberation Army officer reportedly said the training of the Syrian Armed Forces by Chinese instructors is the main goal of the agreement between China and Syria.
Already, the Chinese have dispatched the country’s director of the Office for International Military Cooperation under the Chinese Central Military Commission, Guan Youfei, to hold talks with Syrian defense officials in the capital, Damascus.
Youfei is said to have met with Syrian Defense Minister, Fahad Jassim al-Freij. China’s state-run media, Xinhua reports that during the meeting with Fahad, Youfei highlighted China’s consistent diplomatic efforts to find a political solution to the Syrian crisis, adding that Beijing is now seeking closer military ties with Damascus.
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According to Xinhua again, Youfei and Fahad discussed the enhancement of training and reached a consensus on the Chinese military providing humanitarian aid to Syria. The news agency, however failed to provide further details on the humanitarian assistance.
Apart from meeting with Fahad, Youfei reportedly also met with an unnamed Russian general who has been playing a lead role in Russia’s military operation in Syria.
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Youfei was quoted as saying: “The Chinese and Syrian militaries traditionally have a friendly relationship, and the Chinese military is willing to keep strengthening exchanges and cooperation with the Syrian military.”
Political commentators say China has been operating in Syria, alongside Russia and Iran, in a discreet manner. Many believe that as the West, led by the United States, has been escalating the situation in Syria – by covertly backing terrorist organizations such as Al-Nusra Front and the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and Syria – the time has come for China to openly take sides in the devastating war.
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China is a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. The country also relies on oil from the Middle East, like many countries in the world. China, therefore has an interest in the region, like any of the superpowers. But when the war started initially in Syria, China was reluctant to get involved.
China was concentrating on its domestic affairs, especially the dispute in the South China Sea. However, after the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague ruled that China’s nine-dash-line claim in the South China Sea, and its land reclamation activities on islets are invalid and unlawful, China revised its foreign policy.
The country is now closely aligning itself with Russia and Iran, sending a strong message to the West that China will stand with Russia, should there be an outbreak of a global conflict.
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In fact, top Chinese officials recently openly praised Russia’s efforts to help the Syrian government to get rid of terrorists in the country.
The civil war in Syria is in its fifth year. The war has devastated the Syrian civilian population. More than half of the country’s 22 million people have been forced out of their homes. Media estimates the death toll, since the war began in 2011, at 280,000. However, after a recent United Nations special envoy to Syria, Staffan de Mistura estimated an actual death toll as high as 400,000.
In 2015, western mainstream media flooded the world with pictures of fleeing refugees from the Middle East, mostly from Syria, on Europe’s borders. It is believed more than one million crossed into the continent. This year, the story hasn’t changed – war is constantly ravaging lives and land in the country.
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In recent months, the war has created a big gap between the United States and Russia, with many observers fearing that it is likely to start a third World War.
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