China to join Russia in Syria war

Updated on

While Russia successfully bombs unidentified targets – either ISIS or U.S.-trained rebels – in Syria, China is planning to join Russia’s own emerging coalition by deploying Shenyang J-15, a carrier-based fighter aircraft.

Numerous reports have indicated that China is joining Russia’s airstrike campaign in Syria, which has killed at least 39 civilians, including eight children and eight women.

With a high risk of military clash between the U.S. and Russian forces conducting overlapping air campaigns in Syria, the Russian and Chinese joint airstrikes plan to bomb CIA’s proxy jihadists, including ISIS militants in Syria.

Several reports also suggested that a large number of Chinese military advisers have already joined Russia’s personnel in the Assad regime’s stronghold Latakia province.

The news come a few days after Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told a UN Security Council meeting that the world can no longer afford to stand by with its eyes closed on what is going on in Syria, while also not “arbitrarily interfere” in the Syrian war.

The Shenyang J-15 warplanes “will take off from the Chinese Liaoning-CV-16 aircraft carrier, which reached Syrian shores on 26 September,” according to the Israeli military and intelligence news website DEBKAfile with news that Beijing is joining Moscow’s venture in Syria.

It has been reported that the Russians have managed to negotiate with the Syrian government to provide them an exclusive access to some of the largest oil and gas fields in the region in return for the Russian airstrikes.

And China, which recently carried out joint naval drills with Russia in the Eastern Mediterranean and is expanding its military potential in the neighboring Pakistan, has major plans for the Middle East, particularly for Syria.

China has stakes in Syria’s oil industry, in which China’s state-owned National Petroleum Corporation holds shares in two of Syria’s largest oil companies, while another Chinese company, Sinochem, holds 50% of shares in Syrian oil fields.

China hopes for Russia’s military support in South China Sea

While China had always stood aside from regional conflicts, it seems that Beijing has just shifted its foreign policy toward getting involved into affairs, where it could potentially satisfy its strategic interests. It can be explained by China’s growing role as a major international player.

However, China is still very cautious about getting involved into the Syrian crisis, as it makes its first steps, which explains the secrecy around the Shenyang J-15 deployment.

China’s sudden involvement might also have something to do with U.S. President Barack Obama’s recent UN speech, in which he confronted China’s growing threat in the South China Sea.

Beijing might be revising its Middle Eastern policy and joining Russia in the Syrian war in the hope that the Kremlin will return the favor by supporting China’s stance in the disputed South China Sea.

In case of a possible military conflict in the disputed South China Sea, China would hope for Russia’s military assistance, creating a new alliance to allegedly protect the region from the U.S. influence and its regional allies, who have claims on the disputed islands.

And not only Russia would join such an alliance with China, but also other countries currently siding with Moscow in the Syrian war, in case their military operation in Syria succeeds.

Who will join Russia-China military alliance?

By providing the Assad regime with its troops and military equipment, Russia has acquired a number of friends in the region, largely thanks to showing its reliability as a partner.

ValueWalk reported in August that there are indications of the emergence of the world’s new superpower axis between China, Russia and Pakistan. Thus, the world is coming toward a bipolar world with China, Russia, Pakistan and a number of other countries of Central Asia and Middle East on one side, and the U.S., EU, Japan and their Asian allies on the other side.

And what we see in Syria today takes us closer to that bipolar world. What we see now is that Russian and U.S. officials have so far failed to coordinate their actions in Syria, while the Kremlin has admitted targeting groups other than ISIS militants in coordination with the Assad regime, all of which raises concerns that we might be standing on the verge of the World War 3.

Another thing that increases Russia’s global prestige is that Russian President Vladimir Putin shows that Russia is a reliable ally unlike the U.S., who abandoned Iraq and Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak in 2011 and does not seems to be doing a great job in eliminating ISIS.

Russia-Syria-Iran-Hezbollah alliance brings us closer to the World War 3?

Israel, another major player in the region, seems to be already secretly dealing with Russia over Syria, in return for Putin’s promise that Israel’s security will be protected. And Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s recent visit to Moscow has shown that U.S. allies in the region are not going to wait for the Obama administration to wake up.

Netanyahu is the first Middle Eastern leader that realized who is the new master of the Middle East, and flew to Moscow.

It is still unclear how Israel is going to cooperate with Russia in Syria given that Moscow has just formed an alliance with Iran, its traditional rival, and Lebanon’s Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran and has been fighting alongside the Assad regime since the beginning of the conflict, which has killed over 230,000 people.

Hundreds of Iranian troops have reportedly arrived in Syria along with military equipment to launch ground combat operations on rebel-held areas and regain the control over the Northern-Western part of Syria, which Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s opponents gained earlier this year.

The ground combat operation with Iran, Hezbollah and the Syrian army will go hand in hand with Russian airstrikes, which will likely get other Middle Eastern states involved into the war in Syria.

And maybe not just Middle Eastern countries, but also Western states, which raises concerns about unleashing of the World War 3, accidentally or otherwise.

And with senior U.K. officials urging NATO to prepare for a war with Russia, and U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron announcing two days ago that he is prepared to use nuclear weapons, the World War 3 is likely to include the use of nuclear arsenals.

Leave a Comment