Strengthening ties: Xi shaking hands with Bashar during their meeting in Hangzhou. — Reuters
BEIJING: Chinese President Xi Jinping has offered to help Syria rebuild its shattered economy and counter domestic unrest during talks with its long ostracised and heavily sanctioned leader, Bashar al-Assad, by upgrading ties to a “strategic partnership”.
The meeting in Hangzhou boosts Bashar’s campaign to return to the global stage while allowing Xi to advance China’s strategic interests in the Middle East, where it is already aligned with Iran and Saudi Arabia.
China, the world’s second-largest economy, will also support Syria’s reconstruction, Chinese state media reported Xi as saying.
In Chinese diplomacy, a “strategic partnership” implies closer coordination on regional and international affairs, including in the military. It is one grade below what Beijing calls a “comprehensive strategic partnership”.
Western sanctions on Syria have been steadily tightened since the early days of a civil war that began in 2011 with a crackdown on protests and went on to kill hundreds of thousands of people and displace millions.
Bashar’s government, backed by Russia and Iran, now controls most Syrian territory and has re-established ties in recent years with Arab neighbours that once backed his opponents.
Syria is now desperately in need of foreign investment for its infrastructure and for reviving various industries. The dire economic situation has triggered protests in southern Syria in which crowds have called for the president’s removal.
Beijing meanwhile has stepped up its diplomatic engagement with the Middle East in recent years, and in March helped broker a surprise deal between long-standing rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran to end their seven-year diplomatic rift. — Reuters
