Sunday, April 09, 2017

As Middle East Analysts Focus On Syria's Alliance With Russia, They Forget Assad's Other Friend

Since the Syrian civil war began analysts commented only on Syria’s alliances with the Russian Federation and the Islamic Republic of Iran. Both are important allies in President Assad’s struggle against Islamic extremist rebels, but they are not his only powerful friends. Interviewed by Chinese media last month, Assad called China, “a real friend, a friend that you can rely on.”

Indeed there is a long standing relationship between Syria and China. The alliance was established in 1956 and when in 1963, the centrist government of Syria was overthrown in a coup d’état led by military officers loyal to the Syrian Ba’ath Party (an Islamic socialist movement that has ruled continuously . Similar The Ba’ath movement was also the intellectual basis of Saddam Hussein’s government in Iraq. Saddam however was a nationalist, Syria’s version of Ba'athism envisions a pan-Arab, socialist style of governance.

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact, China has been eager to expand its influence in other socialist states. With the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the pillar that had propped up the regime of Assad's dad, Hafiz al Assad, was gone and Damascus had to look towards Beijing, the last major communist regime standing, for support. China was keen to have a frienly nation with a Mediterranean coastline and a deal to build Syria a small 30MW nuclear research reactor and supply intermediate range ballistic missiles was concluded. Following the 2004 visit of Bashar al-Assad to Beijing, economic relations picked up, with China investing hundreds of millions of dollars into the Syrian oil industry. Bilateral trade jumped from US$174 million in 2000 to US$2.27 billion by 2010, making China Syria’s third most important trade partner.

This has created a lot of goodwill towards Beijing among Syria’s political establishment but the far eastern state former still lags behind Russia and Iran in the estimation of the al-Assad family.

Since the start of the civil war China has approached the conflict in its usual cautious manner. On one hand China's foreign policy has traditionally been directed towards maintaining its role as the major regional power in south east Asia and The Pacific, but Beijing would be reluctant to see its middle eastern ally fall and be replaced by a Saudi Arabianm controlled puppet government of Islamic fundamentalists. Since a similar US - Saudi - Arabia backed regime change war in Libya and subsequent collapse of that country, formerly Africa's righest and most socially advanced nation, into a chaotic failed state robbed China of one of its most important oil suppliers Beijing has taken a much harder line against Western interventionism, which it sees as jeopardizing its own economic interests. (One example of this was China using its Security Council veto power to block UN resolutions sanctioning Syria for using chemical weapons against its citizens.) Added to that, Assad remaining in power strengthens the position in the region of Iran, another Chinese ally, which China is coming to perceive as a counterweight to American domination in the Persian Gulf.

Although Beijing has not yet seriously committed military support to Syria beyond a small force of weapons technicians nobody should doubt how far it will go to keep the al-Assad regime in power. So far Iran has taken care of ISIS on the ground, with air support from Russia, and Putin has faced down the threats made by the USA.

Chinese support so far has been largely symbolic, but while Assad is perceibed to be winning that's fine. In the event of an al-Assad victory, Russia and Iran will likely come to dominate the foreign policy of whatever is left of the regime in Damascus. However it will likely be China that rebuilds the nation, and its ports, from the ground up, buying itself a far more stable and strategic foothold in Syrian affairs in the process.

On the other hand, if it looks as if Assad will fall, or if there are any more false flag events engineered by the Americans to justify direct NATO intervention in Syria's civil war, expect China to be lining up with Russia and Iran in support of Assad.



RELATED POSTS:


Europe Rejects Obama Doctrine - US Exceptionalism Is Not Acceptable

With a backlash against his efforts to bully Britons into voting to remain in the EU pushing the leave campaign into a narrow lead in opinion polls Obama's vistit to Europe last week could hardly be described as a success. And now he has been told a foreign policy based on 'American Exceptionalism' is not acceptable and the USA must abide by the same international law as the rest of the world

Iran's Ayatollahs save SyriaPutin and
Now That Russia's Putin and Iran's Ayatollahs Have Neutralised ISIS in Syria the focus of terror shifts to Turkey, the NATO members that, with the fuill knowledge of the USA ans European powers has been helping ISIS in its bid to overthrow the Assad regime.

Russia's Surprise Withdrawal From Syria? "If We Don't Go Away, We Can't Come back Again.

There is no doubt that the withdrawal is not quite what it seems to be, but more likely a tactical move by the Russians. The Kremlin feels it has done enough to secure the regime of President Assad, the remnants of the Sunni Muslim Free Syrian Army are no longer capable of mounting a challenge and the Syrians, along with Shi'ite militias in Iraq and Kurdish irregulars, backed by Iranian Republic an Guard troops ought to be capable of dealing with ISIS

Propaganda War: US Officials Working to Keep Russia, Europe at Odds
Speaking to the US Senate Armed Services Committee this month, Breedlove said that " Russia and the Assad regime are deliberately weaponizing migration from Syria in an attempt to overwhelm European structures and break European resolve." These irrational remarks, and the mainstream media's ability to convey them with a straight face, are an indication of a broken system, experts suggest.

EU HoldsBack New Regulation For Fear Of Strengthening Brexit Case

The unelected leaders of the EU in Brussels are smothering discussion of new pan – European laws that would impact the United Kingdom and all other member states, increasing the amount of money they have to contribute to the EU budget and transferring yet more sovereignty to Brussels ...

Turkey Blames Kurds, Assad For Terrorist Attack, Vows Swift Response

Yesterday came the first terrorist attack on Turkish soil. As this blog predicted President Erdogan of Turkey is blaming the Kurds and President Assad of Syria for yesterday's bomb blast in the Turkish capital which killed and injured many people.It was predictable would the attack would be blamed on Assad and the Kurds, thus giving the nutter Erdogan an excuse to intensify his actions against Assad and the Kurds

War Is Good, The Obama Worshipping Guardian Says

Alas that all went down the pan in 2008 when the USA elected its first (and probably last) black president. Like American liberals, the hacks at The Guardian could not see past the colour of Obama’s skin and before Obama had even been sworn into office they were declaring him not just the greatest president ever but the greatest human being ever

Road To World War III: Turkey Shells Syria For Second Day As Saudi Warplanes Arrive

The geopolitical world was rocked yesterday when Turkey began shelling Syria’s second largest city, Aleppo, where the Syrian opposition has its back against the wall in the face of an aggressive advance by the forces of President Assad’s government and the Iranian Republican Guard supported, of course, by Russian airstrikes.

US Allies Now Fighting CIA-Backed Terror Groups In Syria

The idea that ISIS has very close links with the USA has gone beyond conspiracy theory, or anti US propaganda, the proof is out there. We have previously reported on the US government's links to ISIS and revealed the vital role of NATO member Turkey in supporting the terrorists in their campaign which aims to create an Islamic Caliphate stretching from the Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf

Turkey and Sadui Arabia Already Have Troops Fighting In Syria

Even mainstream media has been forced to concede that Turkey and Saudi Arabia are apparently ready to send ground forces to the Syrian battlefield as Assad's forces, backed by Russian air power and Iranian elite troops but continue to grind down ISIS forces equipped with US made arms and ammunition via Saudi Arabia and funded by Turkey's illegal oil trade with the terrorist group.

US Military Contractors Happy With Escalating Conflicts in the Middle East

My friends and I have been telling you since the US led coalition invaded Afghanistan in 2001 that the USA's perpetual war on terror was not about making the public safe and secure but instead about corporate profits and political power.

Crazy Obama Administration Claims It Brought Peace And Security To Syria In 2015
As fighting intensifies between ISIS, The Assad regime and its Russian, Iranian and Chinese allies and the FUKUS axis (France, UK, US) with support from Turkey as that rogue state wages a genocial campaign against the Kurds, the increasingly insane warmongers of the Obama administration is telling US voters they have brought peace and security to Syria Fortunately for Americans with enough nous to question the official narrative, new media is getting the truth out to ever increasing audiences.


Senior Kremlin Advisor Suggests 'Cure For US Aggression'
The only way to stop the United States’ aggression is to get rid of dollar addiction, a Kremlin advisor said on Friday. "The more aggressive the Americans are the sooner they will see the final collapse of the dollar as the only way for the victims of American aggression to stop this aggression is to get rid of the dollar. As soon as we and China are through with the dollar, it will be the end of the United States’ military might," Sergey Glazyev said in an interview with TASS.



Elsewhere: [ The Original Boggart Blog] ... [ Daily Stirrer.shtml ]...[Little Nicky Machiavelli]... [ Ian's Authorsden Pages ]... [ It's Bollocks My Dears, All Bollocks ] [Scribd]...[Wikinut] ... [ Boggart Abroad] ... [ Grenteeth Bites ] ... [ Latest Posts ] [Ian Thorpe at Flickr ] ... [Latest Posts] ... [ Tumblr ] ... [ Authorsden blog ] ... [Daily Stirrer Headlines]

[ Ian at Facebook ]