Postcard from Beijing
Assad’s Chinese holiday 

Bashar Assad was in China last month for reasons that are not at all entirely clear. Officially, he was there with Mrs Assad to attend the opening ceremony of the 19th Asian Games held on 23 September in the city of Hangzhou, together with the heads of state of Cambodia, Nepal and Timor-Leste. Easily the most important guest, however, was Crown Prince Meshal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah of Kuwait, who was there also to discuss oil deals and investment opportunities. He was accordingly seated immediately to the right of President Xi Jinping at official ceremonies and dinners, while Assad was placed some distance away. Even at photo opportunities, Xi Jinping and Assad’s respective wives stood between them, a subtle suggestion that the Chinese leader might not hold the highest regard for his Syrian guest. The Chinese government is meticulous about symbolism and protocol, and its message was clear: you are welcome, but know your place.

Plainly, the Chinese people have no great interest in Syria. They hardly know about its twelve-year conflict, and so it was understandable that commentary on the visit in China's traditional news outlets, as well as social media networks, was limited. The coverage nevertheless made clear what the Chinese government found most useful about Assad. Beijing wants to reinforce to its domestic audience the image of a beneficent China standing against a Western colonialist monster; and Assad was the perfect propaganda prop. 

In the official media, the visit was spun as a win for China’s “peace diplomacy.” But look more closely and you catch a glimpse of what China’s government really thinks of Syria. The official Xinhua news agency published an English transcript of the Strategic Partnership signed on 22 September between the two countries. Notably, the agreement says that, "China is willing to (...) increase the import of high-quality agricultural products from Syria.” This sentence was not included in the Mandarin version published on the Chinese Foreign Ministry website, suggesting that it was likely a copy-and-paste error from a previous agreement that a Xinhua editor failed to spot. It is unlikely that such sloppiness would have been tolerated for a strategic partnership agreement with a country that really mattered: Kuwait for example. 

Social media carried mixed reviews of the visit. Among the most approved comments on the state-censored microblogging website Weibo, with 15,000 likes, was this: "Syrian President Assad's visit to China caused a great stir on social media at home and abroad (...) The Arab world has gradually become disgusted with the West and cherishes China's friendship. The West wants to dominate the world, while China wants to be kind to others. China is a friend of the Arab world." On Reddit Real China, free from state censorship, the comments were notably less guarded: "Assad lacks money and China is doomed", opined one blogger. 

Undoubtedly, Assad was in China looking for a handout. But for Beijing, which has not provided much support to Syria apart from protecting it at the UN Security Council, aid would only come within the framework of its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Syria signed on to the BRI in early 2022, but none of the investments announced then have materialised. Assad’s delegation included several ministers (accompanied by their wives) but no businessmen, and the agreements signed did not suggest anything new or significant. China does not invest in dangerous sanctions-ridden war zones replete with jostling great powers and terrorist groups. Also, the BRI is not what it used to be. 

The visit was noteworthy only for its PR value. It was an opportunity for the two dictators to message their domestic audiences. Xi Jinping wanted to flaunt his influence in the Arab world and opposition to Western “aggression”; and Assad wanted to prolong the silly illusion that China would save his country from ruin – an especially important line given failing Arab normalisation and the growing disillusionment among his own Alawite community with the spiralling cost of living and a tanking economy.  

In a final tragicomic twist, as they bid farewell to China, the Assad couple filmed a cheesy video in Mandarin; but instead of saying "thank you, China", Bashar made a hash of the pronunciation and said "thank you, England." Maybe this was what the visit was really about: a nice outing for the Assad children and an opportunity for Mrs Assad to play at Princess Diana.