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| Damage from an air-strike in Kobane, Syria Image: Flickr User - Sebastian Backhaus |
By Shannon Tiezzi
China may be sympathetic to Russia’s motives, but it’s not sold on the idea of military intervention.
Russia has stepped up its military operations in Syria this week, with its navy now joining the air force in targeting forces opposing the rule of embattled leader Bashar al-Assad. Russia insists it is only targeting the Islamic State and terrorist groups; the United States believes Moscow is actually targeting non-IS rebels, especially those backed by American training and weapons. Rebel groups themselves, meanwhile, have accused Russia of occupying Syria and targeting civilians.
What does China think about all this?
The situation is Syria is a geopolitical mess (and a humanitarian disaster). There’s no good solution, regardless of your perspective, and China is no exception. China’s tangled interests in the Syria situation include a number of factors, some of which would seem to suggest Chinese support for Russia’s recent moves and others that pull Beijing in the opposite direction.
China has a general interest in supporting Russia, which has strong ties to Assad, on international issues, with the expectation that Moscow will return the favor. Warming ties between Moscow and Beijing since Chinese President Xi Jinping came to power in 2013 have intensified such cooperation, though it was evident under Hu Jintao as well. On the Syria issue, this has led to China and Russia acting in concert to veto four separate UN Security Council resolutions since 2011. China was also unwilling to criticize Russia for its annexation of Crimea in 2014, which went against China’s long-standing insistence on the inviolable nature of national sovereignty.
Beyond broad geopolitics, China and Russia share a specific distaste for U.S. military interventions, particularly when the stated goal is regime change. Thus Beijing is critical of the U.S. policy of training and supporting certain rebel groups in their fight against Assad. The fact that Moscow is now bombing those U.S.-backed rebels is likely seen as just deserts by China’s leadership.
Read the full story at The Diplomat