Syria lures but will China bite?
Syria lures but will China bite?
Part of the Syria Transition Challenges Project
China looms large as a potentially key player alongside Russia and Iran in President Bashar al-Assad’s post-war Syria. With Russia and Iran lacking the financial muscle and the United States, and Europe refusing to engage with the Syrian government, China is, from Syria’s perspective, the shining knight on a white horse. Syria could become a key node in China’s infrastructure, telecommunications and energy-driven Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Syria could also bring China closer to being sucked into the Middle East’s multiple conflicts.
The ideas expressed are of the author’s not the publisher
Published in June 2020
All rights reserved to GCSP
Dr. James M. Dorsey is an award-winning journalist and a senior fellow at Nanyang Technological University’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore. He is also an adjunct senior research fellow at the National University of Singapore’s Middle East Institute and co-director of the University of Wuerzburg’s Institute of Fan Culture in Germany.