Syria’s Assad al-Shaibani meets with China’s Wang Yi as Damascus strengthens international relations.
Syria’s Foreign Minister Assad al-Shaibani, in his first visit to Beijing since the overthrow of former President Bashar al-Assad last year, pledged to deepen “counter-terrorism” cooperation with China.
Al-Shaibani and China’s Wang Yi agreed on Monday to cooperate in the fight against “terrorism” and security issues, with Syria’s top diplomat pledging not to allow Damascus territory to be used for acts against China’s interests, according to Syrian state news agency SANA.
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China, a former supporter of President al-Assad, said it hoped Syria would take “effective measures” to fulfill its commitments, “thereby removing security obstacles to the stable development of China-Syria relations,” according to a statement from the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
The fate of Uyghur fighters, many of whom have joined the Uyghur-majority Turkestan Islamic Party (TIP) based in Idlib province, who crossed into Syria to fight al-Assad’s forces when war broke out in 2011, was expected to be on al-Shaybani’s agenda in Beijing.
A Damascus Foreign and Expatriate Ministry official denied an AFP report citing anonymous sources that the Syrian government planned to hand over more than 400 fighters fleeing persecution in China “in batches.”
“Reports regarding the Syrian government’s intention to hand over the fighters to China are baseless,” the official said in a short statement to SANA.
During the meeting in Beijing, al-Shaibani also expressed support for the “one China” principle, establishing formal diplomatic relations with the Chinese government rather than Taiwan as the territory’s sole legal representative.
Wang said China considers the Golan Heights to be Syrian territory. Israel occupied part of the territory in 1967 and later annexed it in violation of international law.
Since the fall of al-Assad’s regime in December 2024, Israel has expanded its occupation of southern Syria, including the UN-monitored buffer zone established by the 1974 ceasefire agreement.
On Monday, Damascus and China emphasized the role of the China-Arab Cooperation Forum as a basis for bilateral cooperation and expressed interest in expanding cooperation on economic development, Syria’s reconstruction and improving living standards, SANA reported.
Al-Shaibani’s visit to China comes as Damascus pushes to rebuild diplomatic relations around the world, achieving some surprising successes, including sanctions relief from the West and securing major investment in the Gulf, giving the country a much-needed economic lifeline.
Earlier this month, President Ahmed al-Sharaa became the first Syrian leader to visit the White House since independence in 1946. Syria also joined the US-led international coalition fighting ISIL (ISIS).
In October, Al-Sharaa told Russian President Vladimir Putin during a visit to Moscow that he aimed to “restore and redefine relations” between the two countries.
However, after the meeting, there was no mention of whether the Russian government would extradite al-Assad, who defected to Russia after an attack by rebels led by al-Shara led to the collapse of his government.
Since the fall of the al-Assad regime, Russia has maintained a presence at air and naval bases on the Syrian coast. Moscow is one of al-Assad’s leading supporters and provided air support to government forces during the war.
But as Mr. Al-Shaibani’s meeting in Beijing on Monday highlighted, al-Shura’s government appears ready to forge ties with allies of the previous regime.
