Syrian President Assad is visiting China for the first time in almost 20 years. This should also be about rebuilding the country.
Hangzhou – Syria’s dictator Bashar al-Assad and China’s head of state Xi Jinping agreed on a “strategic partnership” between their two countries on Friday. At a meeting in the eastern Chinese metropolis of Hangzhou, according to Chinese state media, Xi spoke of a “historic milestone in our bilateral relations” and said: “Faced with an unstable and uncertain international environment, China is ready to act in the interests of friendly cooperation and to maintain international fairness and Justice continues to work with Syria.”
Assad traveled to Hangzhou on Thursday to attend the opening ceremony of the 19th Asian Games. The sporting event is scheduled to begin on Saturday. State media reported a “warm welcome” that China had given Assad. It is Assad’s first visit to China since 2004 and only the second trip to China by a Syrian head of state since the two countries established diplomatic relations with each other in 1956.
China and Syria: End of diplomatic isolation
Ahead of the visit, the Foreign Ministry in Beijing emphasized the “deep friendship” between China and Syria. “We believe that President Bashar al-Assad’s visit will further deepen mutual political trust and cooperation in various areas between the two countries and raise bilateral relations to a new level,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said in Beijing on Thursday.
Since the start of the Syria war in 2011, Assad has been shunned by the West, and the Arab countries have also isolated Assad for a long time. In May, however, Assad was able to take part in an Arab League summit for the first time, which observers saw as an end to the diplomatic ice age.
China has never provided military support to the Assad regime, which is accused of serious human rights violations. However, Beijing usually voted together with Russia against resolutions related to the Syrian civil war in the UN Security Council. Last year, Syria also became a partner country in China’s New Silk Road, a global infrastructure project that also serves Beijing’s geopolitical interests.
China could play a role in Syria’s reconstruction
Beijing could play a role in rebuilding the war-ravaged country, Chinese analysts said ahead of the visit. “Syria’s economic and social reconstruction, especially rebuilding infrastructure and improving people’s living conditions, will be a priority for Syria,” political scientist Liu Zhongmin told the Chinese state newspaper Global Times. China’s Belt and Road Initiative, “which focuses on promoting infrastructure construction, trade and investment,” is the right partner for this, said Liu.
“In his third term, Xi Jinping is trying to openly challenge the United States,” Alfred Wu, a professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy in Singapore, told Reuters. “So I think it is no surprise that he is willing to violate international norms and host a leader like Assad.” (sh)
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