Syrian FM in China vows to strengthen counterterrorism ties
Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani has pledged to strengthen collaboration with China on "counterterrorism" during his first visit to Beijing since the ousting of former President Bashar al-Assad last year.
Al-Shaibani and Chinese counterpart Wang Yi agreed on Monday that they would work together on combating “terrorism” and on security matters, with the top Syrian diplomat promising that Damascus would not allow its territory to be used for any actions against Chinese interests, News.Az reports, citing foreign media.
China, a former backer of al-Assad, said that it hoped Syria would take “effective measures” to fulfil its commitment, “thereby removing security obstacles to the stable development of China-Syria relations”, according to a Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement.
The fate of the Uighur fighters who had gone to Syria after war erupted in 2011 to fight al-Assad’s forces, with many joining the Uighur-dominated Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP) based in Idlib province, was expected to be on al-Shaibani’s agenda in Beijing.
A source from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates in Damascus denied a report by news agency AFP that cited unidentified sources as saying the Syrian government planned to hand over 400 fighters who had fled persecution in China “in batches”.
The “report regarding the Syrian government’s intention to hand over fighters to China is without foundation”, said the source in a brief statement to SANA.
During the meeting in Beijing, al-Shaibani also gave his country’s support for the one China principle, establishing formal diplomatic ties with the Chinese government, rather than with Taiwan, as the sole legal representative of the territory.
Wang, for his part, stated that China viewed the Golan Heights as Syrian territory. Israel occupied a portion of the territory in 1967 and subsequently annexed it in violation of international law.
Since al-Assad’s fall in December 2024, Israel has been expanding its occupation into southern Syria, including a United Nations-monitored buffer zone established by a 1974 ceasefire agreement.
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