China repeats opposition to force in Syria

China's foreign minister has repeated his country's opposition to the use of force to resolve the crisis in Syria, saying that a political solution is still the only way out, China's foreign ministry said on Friday.

Russia last month began air strikes on targets in Syria in a dramatic escalation of foreign involvement in the civil war. This has been criticized by the West as an attempt to prop up Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, rather than its purported aim of attacking Islamic State.

[Edit for brevity.--DJW001]

Visiting Bulgaria, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that China supported international anti-terror operations that were in line with international law and had the support of the countries involved.

"At the same time, there should be concerted international anti-terror efforts, and there should be no suspicions or finger-pointing," Wang was quoted as saying.

"Force cannot resolve the problem. A political resolution still remains the basic way (out)," he added.

Source.

Technically, this is not news. Chinese officials have been repeating this statement of policy since the beginning of the civil war in Syria. The reasons for this policy is clear: China has no interests there, and have Islamic terrorists of their own to deal with. And yet, there are constant rumors being circulated in the Russian propaganda echo chamber that Chinese troops will soon be joining Russia in Syria. In fact, RT.com is still running this story:

China will be helping out the Syrian government in the fight against Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIL/ISIS) by sending “military advisers,” media reports have claimed.
Trends
Islamic State
“The Chinese will be arriving in the coming weeks,” a Syrian army official told the Lebanon-based news website Al-Masdar Al-‘Arabi.

The report claims that a Chinese naval vessel is on its way to Syria with dozens of “military advisers” on board. They will reportedly be followed by troops.

The ship is said to have passed the Suez Canal in Egypt and be making its way through the Mediterranean Sea.

According to the website, the advisers will be joining Russian personnel in the Latakia region.

www.rt.com...

A credible news organization would have pulled the story and published an apology.

a reply to: DJW001

Too close to their major oil supply. ANY escalation would also result in soaring oil prices.

That would just about kill what's left of their economic system in light of their 'market corrections'....cough, cough.

a reply to: DJW001

China has assets in Iraq .

Mr. Li is one of an estimated 10,000 Chinese workers who have traveled to Iraq in recent years, mostly on contract to Chinese oil companies that have taken a hefty stake in the country’s oilfields to become the industry’s largest foreign investor.

csmarchives/2014/08/08-11-china-quiz-map.jpg
TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGEHow much do you know about China? Take our quiz.

IN PICTURES Iraq's delicate balance
Play
VIDEO China's Foreign Ministry: Spare no effort to evacuate Chinese workers in Iraq
Most of the Chinese expatriates work in the south of Iraq, in predominantly Shiite areas far from the current fighting and where the Sunni rebels are unlikely to venture. But Li, along with about 1,200 other Chinese employees, has been caught by the rebels’ rapid advance at the power plant 75 miles north of the capital, Baghdad.

Li said the Chinese embassy had sent a helicopter twice to the plant site Wednesday; it evacuated about 35 workers to Baghdad airport. Buses had collected more than 200 of their Chinese colleagues from the plant several times, Li’s wife Guo Jing said he had told her by SMS text messages, but they had been turned back on the road to Baghdad by unidentified gunmen at checkpoints.

“I am still waiting to be evacuated,” Li said in the interview Thursday. “I hope I can leave here as soon as possible and go back to China. “It is dangerous here.”

The Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said last week that Beijing would “closely watch the situation in Iraq and take necessary measures to protect the Chinese firms, institutions and citizens.” So far, however, China has not organized a large scale evacuation. On Friday, state media reported the start of an evacuation by air and road.

www.csmonitor.com... I would imagine that China is working in tandem with Russia in order to get to their assets . Kind of a good cop bad cop if you will . Putin wanted a peaceful solution to Syria but the west and others wanted Syria without Assad . They might have got their wish if Putin had not stepped in . Now Russia is saying that a solution has to include Assad . More politicians are coming to the same conclusions but first the country has to be brought back under control of the present Govt. before having new elections .

The same kind of thing happened in Ukraine where the leader before the coup agreed to make changes and to new elections ..The west (washington) didnt want new elections that way because there would have been the same results ..So the coup and the leader had to flee for his life ..Same thing with Syria except Assad was able to hold onto power until Russia finally stepped in and is now helping the Syrian Govt to re-capture the country ....China /Syria/Russia/and Iran want a peaceful solution but the axis of evil don't want that .

a reply to: DJW001

Your thread title…

China repeats opposition to force in Syria

… is misleading.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that China supported international anti-terror operations that were in line with international law and had the support of the countries involved.

LIke Russia, for instance? They are invited by the Syrian government, whereas the US is not.

"Force cannot resolve the problem. A political resolution still remains the basic way (out)," he added.

He's directing that at the US. if the US would stop arming terrorists and come to the table, the Russians could stop destroying the Insurgents. Thats the only way out for Syria.

Go home, NATO.

China only has one interest, China. And the best thing for China is trade with the US. China will never risk that on behalf of Syria or Russia or anybody else. Just like China has not supported Russia in the UN on Ukraine nor recognized Crimea as a part of Russia. In fact China is working hard to replace Russian trade with Ukraine with China. Pumping needed cash into Ukraine and its military. The way China sees it, Russia mess in Ukraine is just an opportunity to grab another market from Russia as they have been doing in most of the former Soviet Republics. And Russia is so desperate for any kind of Chinese support they have to look the other way while China takes their old markets from them. The only interest China will have in Syria is trying grab its markets as well. China sees Russia as weak and desperate so that is the way they treat them.

a reply to: MrSpad

TOOOOOO funny ....Do you have any source for that ? any

a reply to: intrptr

He's directing that at the US. if the US would stop arming terrorists and come to the table, the Russians could stop destroying the Insurgents. Thats the only way out for Syria.

That is clearly aimed directly at Russia, which is bombing Syria back to the stone age. There will be nothing left for Assad to run.

a reply to: the2ofusr1

The United States has been fighting Daesh in Iraq. The Chinese assets there are safe.

Putin wanted a peaceful solution to Syria but the west and others wanted Syria without Assad . They might have got their wish if Putin had not stepped in . Now Russia is saying that a solution has to include Assad . More politicians are coming to the same conclusions but first the country has to be brought back under control of the present Govt. before having new elections .

If Putin wanted a peaceful solution he would have got one. True, Assad would have to step down, but there would have been a peaceful solution. Instead, Putin let the situation blow out of control so that he could step in and show off all the military equipment he didn't use in Ukraine. Putin doesn't care how many Arabs he kills so long as the rest of the world is frightened. If he tried that in Ukraine, NATO would have put a stop to it.

The same kind of thing happened in Ukraine where the leader before the coup agreed to make changes and to new elections ..The west (washington) didnt want new elections that way because there would have been the same results ..So the coup and the leader had to flee for his life ..Same thing with Syria except Assad was able to hold onto power until Russia finally stepped in and is now helping the Syrian Govt to re-capture the country ....China /Syria/Russia/and Iran want a peaceful solution but the axis of evil don't want that .

Washington wanted the elections. The vast majority of Ukrainians wanted closer ties to Europe, but Yanukovych betrayed them. There was no coup, Yanukovych defected. As for Assad, until Russia stepped in, his power barely extended to the Damacus suburbs. China wants a peaceful settlement, Syria and Russia do not. The quickest, easiest, and most peaceful way to drive Daesh out is for Assad to resign and the Army and rebels to unite against the terrorists. Do you see that happening?

a reply to: DJW001

The United States has been fighting Daesh in Iraq.

See this is where you and others narrative breaks down and falls apart .Not only about Ukraine but Syria and Iraq . Did you read that link to the Chinese assets and what they were saying was happening on the ground ? Oh and the US/NATO is bombing in Syria as well as supplying arms to Arabs . Note to US ...if you don't want Arabs bombed back to the stone age then stop supplying them with arms against the Syrian army who is backed by Russia/Iran/the Kurds in the North and Hezbollah from Lebanon ...... It will not get settled quickly as long as the ISIS and rebel forces continued to be given the arms and cash to operate . Put some economic sanctions on the backers and it will end sooner .

a reply to: the2ofusr1

Or Assad could resign and the fighting stop instantly. The rebels know that if they surrender while Assad is in power, they will be executed. If Assad resigns, the rebels can unite with the army to fight Islamic State. But Assad would rather have Russian bombs kill thousands of his citizens rather than retire to Tehran.

a reply to: DJW001

Washington wanted the elections. The vast majority of Ukrainians wanted closer ties to Europe, but Yanukovych betrayed them. There was no coup, Yanukovych defected.

He ran for his life . He was the elected leader and it was only the noisy protests mobilized by the Washington NGO's . It was a coup and Nuland knew it and had already picked their guys .

originally posted by: intrptr
a reply to: DJW001

Your thread title…

China repeats opposition to force in Syria

… is misleading.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that China supported international anti-terror operations that were in line with international law and had the support of the countries involved.

LIke Russia, for instance? They are invited by the Syrian government, whereas the US is not.

"Force cannot resolve the problem. A political resolution still remains the basic way (out)," he added.

He's directing that at the US. if the US would stop arming terrorists and come to the table, the Russians could stop destroying the Insurgents. Thats the only way out for Syria.

Go home, NATO.

Glad you said it, because that's how I read it - China is directing the comments toward the US and their puppet ISIS, not at Russia.

As you said, Russia was invited by Assad - the current leader of the country and has been the leader for 15 years. If any country was operating in any part of the US without express permission of the US government it would be considered an act of war. And that's exactly what the US is doing under the guise of "bombing ISIS."

However, the Russian's stepped up and said - "you aren't bombing s#!t, America. This is how you take care of those little puppets." And no Russia is doing what the US should have done, except we really didn't want to bomb our puppets.

As for MrSpad's comments - I'm not so sure. Your same comment should be much more strongly directed at the USA - "USA only has one interest, USA." China has actually gone into African countries to build infrastructure, something the USA NEVER does, except for after we've destroyed the place.

The US involvement in both Communist Russia and China is dubious at best. There are many links from the early 1900s through the 1980s that people purposefully ignore.

The real question we have to ask is this - are Russia and China merely playing a part on the world stage or have they genuinely grown tired of the meddling and abuse of the USA?

a reply to: DJW001

That makes little sense because ISIS is also in Iraq and seems to have their own agenda . Should the leader there step down also and do you think the violence would stop if he did ?

a reply to: WCmutant

The real question we have to ask is this - are Russia and China merely playing a part on the world stage or have they genuinely grown tired of the meddling and abuse of the USA?

They are competing with each other to rival the United States. China is happy to see Russia wasting its resources fighting a pointless war while China makes friends in Africa by building railroads.

originally posted by: the2ofusr1
a reply to: DJW001

Washington wanted the elections. The vast majority of Ukrainians wanted closer ties to Europe, but Yanukovych betrayed them. There was no coup, Yanukovych defected.

He ran for his life . He was the elected leader and it was only the noisy protests mobilized by the Washington NGO's . It was a coup and Nuland knew it and had already picked their guys .

Keep repeating the lie until you believe it.

a reply to: WCmutant

The real question we have to ask is this - are Russia and China merely playing a part on the world stage or have they genuinely grown tired of the meddling and abuse of the USA?

That has been the million dollar question to most of us . It could be but it might not be . It could be that there are actually two axis of evil operating for the same prize . One thing for sure is that if there is a lesser of two to choose from the China and Russia are the better choices ... But for some reason I think Putin is on the square .China as well . They seem to be trying to build and rebuild in this crazy world the 5 eyes have run roughshot over as a Empire for the past 100 years ....my lot is with them and I know that living in the west will be harder for me personally if the west looses but this crazy has to stop .

a reply to: the2ofusr1

They seem to be trying to build and rebuild in this crazy world

Putin is trying to rebuild this world by bombing Syria to rubble. That's hilarious.

Most people have left syria i would use the opportunity to show Isis what full forces means... Cause that's the only way to end the spiral of violence: a big BAM!
China wouldn't care...

a reply to: DJW001

I dont need to repeat anything to know what it was .

Stratfor Chief's "Most Blatant Coup in History" Interview Translated in Full
This is the translation of the interview George Friedman of Stratfor gave to the Russian newspaper Kommersant in December and has been cited numerous times since


"Americans know that this is nonsense. The first example of the changing of borders by force was Yugoslavia. And Kosovo was only the culmination of this process."
"For all of the last 100 years Americans have pursued a very consistent foreign policy. Its main goal: to not allow any state to amass too much power in Europe."
"Today the US is seeking to block the emergence of a whole range of potential regional hegemons: Serbia, Iran, Iraq."
"Russia calls the events that took place at the beginning of this year a coup d'etat organized by the United States. And it truly was the most blatant coup in history."
"About three years ago, in one of my books, I predicted that as soon as Russia starts to increase its power and demonstrate it, a crisis would occur in Ukraine."

It's you that needs to keep repeating it to stay convinced but others have moved beyond the false western narrative ..

a reply to: DJW001

I see the US just recommitted to Afghanistan . They must figure there are too many hospitals and too many wedding parties . Plus they are still looking for Osama . Or maybe it's the Opium farmers they want to help out . Maybe the US economy is doing great and so providing a bit of security is in the Nations interest . crazy world ...