China’s Xi Jinping meets Syria’s Bashar al Assad and announces strategic partnership
Syrian President Bashar al Assad has met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in China for “in-depth talks”, according to Chinese state media.
It is Mr Assad‘s first visit to the country in almost 20 years, and since the start of Syria’s 12-year civil conflict – one in which Beijing has been one of his main backers.
The pair met on the sidelines of the Asian Games on Friday.
The two leaders holding talks in Hangzhou. Pic: SANA/Handout via Reuters
China and Syria will establish a strategic partnership, Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported, with President Xi describing the move as an important milestone in the history of both countries.
“In the face of an unstable and uncertain international environment, China is willing to continue to work with Syria in the interests of friendly cooperation and safeguarding international fairness and justice,” Mr Xi said, according to Chinese state media.
President Xi will be hosting a banquet later and conducting bilateral activities with Mr Assad and other heads of state and government attending the games.
Mr Assad arrived in China on Thursday ahead of the opening ceremony of the international sports event, which begins on Saturday in the eastern city of Hangzhou, where he will be joined by other foreign leaders.
President Assad was given the red carpet treatment. Pic: Syrian Presidency/via Reuters
Speaking ahead of the face-to-face talks, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said Mr Assad’s visit would “further deepen political mutual trust and cooperation in various fields between the two countries and push bilateral relations to a new level”.
She added the two leaders would be holding “in depth talks” on a range of issues.
Mr Assad’s office had previously said he was invited by President Xi and would bring with him a high-ranking Syrian delegation.
China has been expanding its reach in the Middle East after mediating a deal in March between Saudi Arabia and Iran.
Meanwhile, diplomatic relations between Damascus and other Arab countries have intensified since the February earthquake that hit Syria and Turkey.
In March, Mr Assad was in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for an official visit during which President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al Nahyan said the two “held constructive talks aimed at developing relations between our two countries”.
And in May, Mr Assad attended the annual summit of the Arab League in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, for the first time in 12 years after Syria’s membership was reinstated in the 22-member organisation.
Mr Assad was suspended by the alliance after his crackdown on pro-democracy protests led to the breakout of civil war in 2011.
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More than 500,000 people have died since then and more than half of the country’s 22 million pre-war population have had to flee their homes.
Syria’s currency is collapsing and the country is suffering from a lack of electricity, medicine and daily essentials, despite support from Russia and Iran.
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The Syrian leader is in China to advance efforts to bring to an end more than a decade of diplomatic isolation under Western sanctions and to boost commercial ties with the world’s second-largest economy, as Syria desperately needs foreign investment.
His last visit to China was in 2004, a year after the US-led invasion of neighbouring Iraq.
The cardinals have arrived, the finishing touches are being made; Vatican City is preparing for an election like no other.
On Wednesday, the papal conclave begins and many visitors to St Peter’s Square already have a clear view on what they would like the outcome to be.
“I want a liberal pope,” says Joyce who has travelled to Rome from the US.
“My number one is Pierbattista Pizzaballa,” says blogger Teodorita Giovannella referencing the 60-year-old Italian cardinal.
Rome resident Michele Rapinesi thinks the next pope will be the Vatican’s secretary of state, Pietro Parolin, who was Pope Francis’ number two.
Joyce has travelled all the way to Rome from the US
Michele Rapinesi speaks to Siobhan Robbins
Although the job of selecting the next pontiff lies with 133 cardinal electors, Ms Giovannella and Mr Rapinesi are among 75,000 Italians playing an online game trying to predict who they’ll pick.
Fantapapa is a similar format to fantasy football, but teams are made up of prospective pontiffs.
Ms Giovannella has chosen three popular Italians as her favourites: Cardinals Pizzaballa, Zuppi and Parolin.
After 47 years she wants an Italian pope but believes an Asian or African would be a good “plot twist”.
Despite the growing speculation and excitement, for the cardinal electors the papal conclave is the serious and sombre process of choosing the next leader of the Catholic Church and its 1.4 billion followers.
Teodorita Giovannella is hoping the next pope will be a fellow Italian
To keep the vote secret, they are locked in the Sistine Chapel which has been swept for hidden cameras, recording equipment and bugs.
The windows are covered to keep the outside world out and to stop drones from spying.
Mobile phones are banned and signal jammers have been installed to help stop any information being leaked.
Ballots are burned after they are cast and a plume of coloured smoke shows people if a new pope has been chosen.
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The cardinal who is elected will become one of the most powerful men in the world and will set the course for the Catholic Church for years to come, making decisions which will affect the lives of millions of people worldwide.
Pope Francis’ 12-year reign pulled the church in a more progressive direction.
His fight for migrants and climate change made him a muse for Roman street artist Mauro Pallotta.
He met him five times and painted more than 30 pictures of him, celebrating his life on the walls of Rome.
Siobhan Robbins with Rome street artist Mauro Pallotta
One of Mr Pallotta’s artworks of Pope Francis
One shows Francis with a catapult shooting out hearts.
“It depicts the strong love he had for people,” Mr Pallotta explains.
In another, he wears a cape and is depicted as a superhero.
“I hope the new pope continues the way of Pope Francis and remembers the poor people of the world,” he says.
Whether the next pontiff is another pope of the people, a progressive or conservative will soon be decided by the cardinals.
Their choice will determine if the Catholic Church continues down the route set by Francis or takes a different path.
Israel has approved a plan to capture all of the Gaza Strip and remain there for an unspecified length of time, Israeli officials say.
According to Reuters, the plan includes distributing aid, though supplies will not be let in yet.
The Israeli official told the agency that the newly approved offensive plan would move Gaza’s civilian population southward and keep humanitarian aid from falling into Hamas’s hands.
On Sunday, the United Nations rejected what it said was a new plan for aid to be distributed in what it described as Israeli hubs.
Israeli cabinet ministers approved plans for the new offensive on Monday morning, hours after it was announced that tens of thousands of reserve soldiers are being called up.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has so far failed to achieve his goal of destroying Hamas or returning all the hostages, despite more than a year of brutal war in Gaza.
Palestinian children struggle to get donated food at a community kitchen in Khan Younis, Gaza. Pic: AP
Officials say the plan will help with these war aims but it would also push hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to southern Gaza, exacerbating an already dire humanitarian crisis.
They said the plan included the “capturing of the strip and the holding of territories”.
It would also try to prevent Hamas from distributing humanitarian aid, which Israel says strengthens the group’s rule in Gaza.
The UN rejected the plan, saying it would leave large parts of the population, including the most vulnerable, without supplies.
It said it “appears designed to reinforce control over life-sustaining items as a pressure tactic – as part of a military strategy”.
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More than 52,000 Palestinians have been killed since the IDF launched its ground offensive in the densely-populated territory, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
It followed the deadly Hamas attacks on Israel, which killed 1,200 people and saw around 250 people taken hostage.
A fragile ceasefire that saw a pause in the fighting and the exchange of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners collapsed earlier this year.
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