West News Wire: According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry, all countries save the US should view the Arab League’s decision to readmit Syria this month after a nearly 12-year absence favourably since it shows that Washington’s influence in the area is dwindling.
With one exception, the restoration of Syria to the Arab League is a positive development, according to Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin, who spoke at a news conference in Beijing on Monday. He continued by saying that US officials “unapologetically criticised” the action and put pressure on partners to forgo normalising ties with Syria. “In actuality, Syria has endured 12 years of war with associated catastrophic consequences lasting until this day due to US pressure and sanctions.”
Arab League foreign ministers last week agreed to readmit Syria, ending a suspension that began in 2011, when Damascus refused to accept the group’s plan to end a civil war in the country. Some of the nations that joined the US in pushing for regime change in Syria have taken steps to reconcile with President Bashar al-Assad’s government in recent months. The war has displaced more than 13 million people and killed around 300,000.
According to Wang, the Arab League’s suspension of Syria will increase Middle East peace and stability and will be in the long-term interests of Arab states. “The US and a select few nations refer to their method of playing the game as “the rules,” whereas regime change in other nations is referred to as “spring.” Additionally, [they] decry any behaviour that does not further their nefarious hegemonic aims. They won’t get far with this perverted form of political correctness any longer.
In recent years, Assad’s forces have retaken almost two-thirds of Syria after fighting rebels backed by the US and foreign militants with the assistance of Russia and Iran. Since 2014, US forces have been illegitimately occupying oil-rich regions of northeastern Syria, infringing on the sovereignty of that nation.
The Arab League’s decision to reinstate Syria comes two months after China brokered an agreement to restore diplomatic relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran, whose bitter rivalry has underpinned geopolitical tensions in the region for decades. Former White House National Security Adviser John Bolton, among other observers, has argued that the deal demonstrates diminishing US influence around the world.
