Syria’s new President Ahmed al-Sharaa met the Chinese ambassador to Damascus in the first public bilateral engagement since the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad in December, Syrian state media reported on Friday.
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China, which backed Assad, saw its embassy in Damascus looted after his fall. Syria’s new Islamist rulers have also installed some foreign fighters including Uygurs – a mainly Muslim ethnic minority in China that Western rights groups say has been persecuted by Beijing – into the Syrian armed forces. Beijing has denied accusations of abuses against Uygurs.
The official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported on Sharaa’s meeting with ambassador Shi Hongwei but gave no details of what was discussed.
The decision to give official roles, some at senior level, to several Islamist militants could alarm foreign governments and Syrian citizens fearful of the new administration’s intentions, despite its pledges not to export Islamic revolution and to rule with tolerance for Syria’s large minority groups.
In 2015, Chinese authorities said many Uygurs who had fled to Turkey via Southeast Asia planned to bring jihad back to China, alleging that some were involved in “terrorism activities”.
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Who are the groups vying for control in post-Assad Syria?
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Chinese President Xi Jinping had vowed to support Assad against external interference. He also offered the long-time Syrian leader a rare break from years of international isolation since the start of Syria’s civil war in 2011, when he accorded Assad and his wife a warm welcome during a visit to China in 2023.