China calls for lifting ‘unlawful, unilateral’ sanctions against Syria

22 Sep 2023 

Source: Agencies

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping (SANA)

By Al Mayadeen English

A joint statement issued by Beijing and Damascus says both sides are vehemently opposed to all kinds of hegemony and power politics.

China has urged on Friday relevant nations to swiftly eliminate all “unlawful and unilateral” sanctions imposed against Syria, state-run Chinese news agency Xinhua reported, citing a joint statement issued by Beijing and Damascus.

The statement reiterated that China opposes external interference in Syria’s internal affairs, as well as undermining its security and stability and illegal military presence on Syrian territory.

It also pointed out that both parties are vehemently opposed to all kinds of hegemony and power politics, including the implementation of illegal unilateral sanctions and restrictive measures against other nations.

The joint statement comes shortly after Chinese President Xi Jinping announced earlier a “strategic partnership” with Damascus during talks with his Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

The leaders met on the eve of the Asian Games opening ceremony, which al-Assad will attend as part of his first visit to China since 2004.

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“Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad on Friday jointly announced the establishment of the China-Syria strategic partnership,” according to Xinhua.

Relations between the two countries “have withstood the test of international changes,” Xi highlighted, stressing that “China supports Syria in opposing foreign interference, opposing unilateral bullying, safeguarding national independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity.”

On his part, al-Assad thanked the Chinese government “for everything you have done to stand alongside the Syrian people in their cause and their trials,” according to a readout from the Syrian state news agency SANA.

The Syrian leader indicated that “this visit is extremely important due to its timing and circumstances because a multipolar world is being formed today which will restore balance and stability to the world.”

“I hope that our meeting today will lay the foundations for broad-based and long-term strategic cooperation in all areas,” he added.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry has said al-Assad’s visit will serve to take ties to a “new level”.

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CHINA AND PALESTINE: NO TO ‘PIECEMEAL CRISIS MANAGEMENT’

JUNE 8TH, 2023

Source

Ramzy Baroud

Remarks by China’s United Nations Ambassador, Geng Shuang, on the situation in Occupied Palestine on May 24 were impeccable in terms of their consistency with international law.

Compared to the United States’ position, which perceives the UN, and particularly the Security Council, as a battleground to defend Israeli interests, the Chinese political discourse reflects a legal stance based on a deep understanding of the realities on the ground.

Articulating the Chinese thinking during a UNSC ‘Briefing on the Situation in the Middle East, including the Palestine Question,’ Geng did not mince his words. He spoke forcefully about the “irreplaceable” need for a “comprehensive and just solution” that is based on ending Israel’s “provocations” in Jerusalem and the respect for the right of “Muslim worshipers” as well as the “custodianship of Jordan” in the city’s holy sites.

Widening the context of the reasons behind the latest violence in Palestine and the May 9 Israeli war on Gaza, Geng went on to state a position that both Tel Aviv and Washington find utterly objectionable. He unapologetically condemned the ‘illegal expansion of (Israeli Jewish) settlements’ in Occupied Palestine and Israel’s “unilateral action,” urging Tel Aviv to “immediately halt” all its illegal activities.

Geng proceeded to discuss issues that have been relatively ignored, including “the plight of the Palestinian refugees.”

In doing so, Geng has enunciated his country’s political vision regarding a just solution in Palestine, one that is predicated on ending the Israeli occupation, halting Tel Aviv’s expansionist policies, and respecting the rights of the Palestinian people.

But is this position new?

While it is true that China’s policies on Palestine and Israel have historically been consistent with international law, China, in recent years, attempted to tailor a more ‘balanced’ position, one that does not impede growing Israeli-Chinese trade, particularly in the area of advanced microchips technology.

However, the China-Israel affinity was motivated by more than mere trade.

Since its official launch, China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has served as the cornerstone of Beijing’s global outlook. The massive project involves nearly 150 countries and aims to connect Asia with Europe and Africa via land and maritime networks.

Due to its location on the Mediterranean Sea, Israel’s strategic importance to China, which, for years, has been keen on gaining access to Israeli seaports, has doubled.

Expectedly, such ambitions have been of great concern to Washington, whose naval vessels often dock at the Haifa Port.

Washington has repeatedly cautioned Tel Aviv against its growing proximity to Beijing. US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, went as far as warning Israel in March 2019 that, until Tel Aviv re-evaluates its cooperation with China, the US could reduce “intelligence sharing and co-location of security facilities.”

Fully appreciating the current, but also the potential global power of China, Israel labored to find a balance that would allow it to maintain its ‘special relationship’ with the US while financially and strategically benefiting from its closeness to China.

Israel’s balancing act encouraged China to translate its growing economic prowess in the Middle East into a political and diplomatic investment as well. For example, in 2017, China put into motion a peace plan – initially formulated in 2013 – called the Four-Point Proposal. The plan offered Chinese mediation as a substitution for US bias and, ultimately, failed ‘peace process.’

The Palestinian leadership welcomed China’s involvement, while Israel refused to engage, causing an embarrassment to a government that insists on respect and recognition of its rising importance in every arena.

If balancing acts in geopolitics were possible back then, the Russia-Ukraine war brought it all to a sudden end. The new geopolitical reality can be expressed in the words of a former Italian diplomat, Stefano Stefanini. Italy’s former ambassador to NATO wrote in an article in La Stampa that the “international balancing act is over” and “there are no safety nets.”

Ironically, Stefanini made this reference to Italy’s need to choose between the West and China. The same logic can also be applied to Israel and China.

Soon after China succeeded in striking a landmark deal between Saudi Arabia and Iran on April 6, it again floated the idea of brokering peace between Palestine and Israel. China’s new Foreign Minister, Qin Gang, reportedly consulted with both sides on “steps to resume peace talks.” Again, the Palestinians accepted while Israel ignored the subject.

This partly explains China’s frustration with Israel and also with the US. As China’s former ambassador to Washington (2021-23), Qin must be familiar with the inherent US bias towards Israel. This knowledge was expressed by Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hua Chunying during the latest Israeli war on Gaza.

“The United States should realize that the lives of Palestinian Muslims are equally precious,” Hua said on May 14.

A simple discourse analysis of the Chinese language regarding the situation in Palestine clarifies that Beijing sees a direct link between the US and the continued conflict or the failure to find a just solution.

This assertion can also be gleaned from Ambassador Geng’s most recent UNSC remarks, where he criticized “piecemeal crisis management,” a direct reference to US diplomacy in the region, offering a Chinese alternative that is based on a “comprehensive and just solution.”

Equally important is that the Chinese position seems to be intrinsically linked to that of Arab countries. The more Palestine takes center stage in Arab political discourse, the greater emphasis the issue receives in China’s foreign policy agenda.

In the recent Arab Summit held in Jeddah, Arab governments agreed to prioritize Palestine as the central Arab cause. Allies, such as China, with great and growing economic interests in the region, immediately took notice.

All of this must not suggest that China will be severing its ties with Israel, but it certainly indicates that China remains committed to its principled stance on Palestine, as it has over the decades.

Soon, the relationship between China and Israel will face the litmus test of US pressures and ultimatums. Considering Washington’s unparalleled importance to Israel, on the one hand, and the Arab-Muslim world’s significance to China, on the other, the future is easy to foresee.

Judging by China’s political discourse on Palestine – situated within international and humanitarian laws – it seems that China has already made its choice.

How China Won the Middle East Without Firing a Single Bullet

By Ramzy Baroud

Source

“If oil and influence were the prizes, then it seems China, not America, has ultimately won the Iraq war and its aftermath – without ever firing a shot.” — Jamil Anderlini

Amuch anticipated American foreign policy move under the Biden Administration on how to counter China’s unhindered economic growth and political ambitions came in the form of a virtual summit on March 12, linking, aside from the United States, India, Australia and Japan.

Although the so-called ‘Quad’ revealed nothing new in their joint statement, the leaders of these four countries spoke about the ‘historic’ meeting, described by ‘The Diplomat’ website as “a significant milestone in the evolution of the grouping”.

Actually, the joint statement has little substance and certainly nothing new by way of a blueprint on how to reverse – or even slow down – Beijing’s geopolitical successes, growing military confidence and increasing presence in or around strategic global waterways.

For years, the ‘Quad’ has been busy formulating a unified China strategy but it has failed to devise anything of practical significance. ‘Historic’ meetings aside, China is the world’s only major economy that is predicted to yield significant economic growth this year – and imminently. International Monetary Fund’s projections show that the Chinese economy is expected to expand by 8.1 percent in 2021 while, on the other hand, according to data from the US Bureau of Economic Analysis, the US’ GDP has declined by around 3.5 percent in 2020.

The ‘Quad’ – which stands for Quadrilateral Security Dialogue – began in 2007, and was revived in 2017, with the obvious aim of repulsing China’s advancement in all fields. Like most American alliances, the ‘Quad’ is the political manifestation of a military alliance, namely the Malabar Naval Exercises. The latter started in 1992 and soon expanded to include all four countries.

Since Washington’s ‘pivot to Asia’, i.e., the reversal of established US foreign policy that was predicated on placing greater focus on the Middle East, there is little evidence that Washington’s confrontational policies have weakened Beijing’s presence, trade or diplomacy throughout the continent. Aside from close encounters between the American and Chinese navies in the South China Sea, there is very little else to report.

While much media coverage has focused on the US’ pivot to Asia, little has been said about China’s pivot to the Middle East, which has been far more successful as an economic and political endeavor than the American geostrategic shift.

The US’ seismic change in its foreign policy priorities stemmed from its failure to translate the Iraq war and invasion of 2003 into a decipherable geo-economic success as a result of seizing control of Iraq’s oil largesse – the world’s second-largest proven oil reserves. The US strategy proved to be a complete blunder.

In an article published in the Financial Times in September 2020, Jamil Anderlini raises a fascinating point. “If oil and influence were the prizes, then it seems China, not America, has ultimately won the Iraq war and its aftermath – without ever firing a shot,” he wrote.

Not only is China now Iraq’s biggest trading partner, but Beijing’s massive economic and political influence in the Middle East is also a triumph. China is now, according to the Financial Times, the Middle East’s biggest foreign investor and a strategic partnership with all Gulf States – save Bahrain. Compare this with Washington’s confused foreign policy agenda in the region, its unprecedented indecisiveness, absence of a definable political doctrine and the systematic breakdown of its regional alliances.

This paradigm becomes clearer and more convincing when understood on a global scale. By the end of 2019, China became the world’s leader in terms of diplomacy, as it then boasted 276 diplomatic posts, many of which are consulates. Unlike embassies, consulates play a more significant role in terms of trade and economic exchanges. According to 2019 figures which were published in ‘Foreign Affairs’ magazine, China has 96 consulates compared with the US’ 88. Till 2012, Beijing lagged significantly behind Washington’s diplomatic representation, precisely by 23 posts.

Wherever China is diplomatically present, economic development follows. Unlike the US’ disjointed global strategy, China’s global ambitions are articulated through a massive network, known as the Belt and Road Initiative, estimated at trillions of dollars. When completed, BRI is set to unify more than sixty countries around Chinese-led economic strategies and trade routes. For this to materialize, China quickly moved to establish closer physical proximity to the world’s most strategic waterways, heavily investing in some and, as in the case of Bab al-Mandab Strait, establishing its first-ever overseas military base in Djibouti, located in the Horn of Africa.

At a time when the US economy is shrinking and its European allies are politically fractured, it is difficult to imagine that any American plan to counter China’s influence, whether in the Middle East, Asia or anywhere else, will have much success.

The biggest hindrance to Washington’s China strategy is that there can never be an outcome in which the US achieves a clear and precise victory. Economically, China is now driving global growth, thus balancing out the US-international crisis resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. Hurting China economically would weaken the US as well as the global markets.

The same is true politically and strategically. In the case of the Middle East, the pivot to Asia has backfired on multiple fronts. On the one hand, it registered no palpable success in Asia while, on the other, it created a massive vacuum for China to refocus its own strategy in the Middle East.

Some wrongly argue that China’s entire political strategy is predicated on its desire to merely ‘do business’. While economic dominance is historically the main drive of all superpowers, Beijing’s quest for global supremacy is hardly confined to finance. On many fronts, China has either already taken the lead or is approaching there. For example, on March 9, China and Russia signed an agreement to construct the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS). Considering Russia’s long legacy in space exploration and China’s recent achievements in the field – including the first-ever spacecraft landing on the South Pole-Aitken Basin area of the moon – both countries are set to take the lead in the resurrected space race.

Certainly, the US-led ‘Quad’ meeting was neither historic nor a game-changer, as all indicators attest that China’s global leadership will continue unhindered, a consequential event that is already reordering the world’s geopolitical paradigms which have been in place for over a century.