CHINA INTENSIFIES ACTIVISM ON SYRIA

The Sunday Guardian : January 17, 2014

Monika Chansoria

Arguing that a Syrian-led political transition is the "only viable way out of Syria's problems", China has called for a peace conference on Syria — the Geneva II conference at an earliest date. China's permanent representative to the United Nations, Liu Jieyi expressed disappointment that the progress on the Syrian issue has not been smooth. China has maintained that relevant sides ought to negotiate without pre-conditions and that the eventual goal of the Geneva II conference would be to achieve a political solution to the conflict.

The key lies in implementation of the Geneva communiqué, which involves steps to bringing an end to violence and calls for the establishment of a transitional governing body, with full executive powers, constituting members of the present government and the other opposition factions. Assuming the rotating council presidency for November, China announced that Chinese experts will join inspections and destruction of chemical weapons in Syria. More importantly, Beijing has stated that it will provide financial aid for this purpose.

With the United Nations Security Council adopting a resolution aimed at eliminating chemical weapons from Syria as a follow up of the plan by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to destroy Syrian chemical weapon stockpiles by mid-2014, China has actively facilitated the adoption of decisions and resolutions relating to Syria. There is a discernible shift in the Chinese position on Syria from an initial stance of not "taking sides", to that of taking a proactive role in bringing about a resolution to the crisis. Staunchly opposed to the threat or use of force, Beijing has been urging the Bashar al-Assad government to talk to the dissident opposition forces and address the legitimate desire of the Syrian people in favour of reform and development. China's staunch disapproval of external military intervention to force a regime change in Syria is rooted in its discomfort with meddling in the sovereignty and internal political affairs of Syria — considered by Beijing as a violation of norms regarding legitimate international conduct. China has been a constant advocate of upholding the principle of state sovereignty against arbitrary external military interference.

The Chinese position herein mirrors that of the Arab League. The December 2011 Arab League Peace Plan primarily advocated for an immediate end to the non-stop violence and more significantly stated that external military intervention should be avoided. Launching an all inclusive political dialogue within Syria to discuss political reform is certainly the call of the hour.

Another angle to the quandary is the Chinese media's unequivocal blame on the Syrian government as well as opposition forces for "training Muslim extremists" responsible for the unrest in China's remote and restive far-western region of Xinjiang. Traditionally, blaming Islamic separatists for igniting violence in Xinjiang, home to the Turkic-speaking Muslim Uyghur community, Beijing, for the first time explicitly blamed Syria, thus attempting to portray that violence in Xinjiang has a foreign hand. The mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party, Global Times, stated that some members of the "East Turkestan" faction moved from Turkey into Syria and participated in extremist, religious and terrorist activities within the Syrian opposition forces and fought with the Syrian army.

The above-mentioned conviction of a Syrian angle in the current Xinjiang unrest notwithstanding, the Chinese leadership has repeatedly exercised its veto against UN resolutions on Syria. China's position has undergone a dramatic shift in the Syrian case wherein along with Russia, Beijing opposed initiatives to condemn Bashar al-Assad's crackdown on anti-government demonstrations in Syria and take punitive measures against the Assad regime. Vetoing the draft Security Council resolutions against Syria three times in October 2011, February 2012 and July 2012, China's Syria policy of late represents a shift in its broader West Asia policy with greater visible diplomatic activism taking centre stage. The Russian and Chinese position on Syria represents a countervailing balance to the Western bloc in the UN Security Council.

Given that more than a 100,000 people have been killed in Syria's civil war that began in March 2011, perhaps the greatest challenge would be that of constituting a transitional government while simultaneously disarming, demobilising and reintegrating the rebel armed groups. With international diplomatic profile and clout assuming precedence on the agenda of the Chinese leadership, Beijing's activism in case of Syria remains a case in point.