A ‘grown-up’ China looks to enter the Syrian equation

August 19, 2016 Vladimir Mikheev, special to RBTH

News that Beijing might send military instructors to Syria marks a stark departure from China’s previous foreign policy strategy, which was bent on low-profile involvement in global affairs. It also raises the prospect of an ad hoc military alliance with Russia and Iran.

China and Syria recently discussed the possibility of Chinese military instructors training army personnel in Damascus.

On Aug. 16, Guan Youfei, director of the Office for International Military Cooperation of China's Central Military Commission, said the two sides had “reached a consensus” on the Chinese military providing humanitarian aid to Syria.

However, the focus of attention turned on his accompanying remark that Beijing is seeking closer military ties with Damascus.

These developments come after ongoing speculation that dozens of Chinese military instructors were sent to Syria in 2015. The allegations made by certain sections of the media were never proved, however.

However, recent developments support the conclusion by Reuter’s that lately China has been trying to get more involved, including sending envoys to help push for a diplomatic resolution to the violence there and hosting Syrian government and opposition figures.

Can a solid rationale be detected in these “unknown reasons” for the higher level of Chinese involvement in the Middle Eastern quagmire?

More:

http://rbth.com/international/troika/2016/08/19/a-grown-up-china-looks-to-enter-the-syrian-equation_622587

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