Kina går (all ?)in militärt på Syriens/Assads sida

China has long avoided entangling itself in direct military conflict abroad. But the Chinese ambassador to Syria last week suggested that China is considering doing just that — in Syria.

Rumors have long rumbled that China has sent military advisers or army special forces to Syria

What would push China to change a decades-long policy and get involved in a foreign policy quagmire in the Middle East? There are three potential reasons: Xi Jinping’s project of military modernization; growing concerns about Chinese jihadists in Syria who might return to China as the war is winding down; and a desire to get in on the lucrative reconstruction contracts that so far have largely been swept up by Russian and Iranian firms.

The U.S. Department of Defense declined to comment, referring questions about Chinese military involvement in Syria to the Chinese military.

“There are a number of Chinese Uighurs with their families who have been established now in a village outside Idlib,” and who have “battle-hardened experience,” said Randa Slim, the director of conflict resolution at the Middle East Institute. It’s in China’s interest that this problem stays in Syria, said Slim, adding that this means TIP fighters “get killed or captured and not return to China.”