http://english.alarabiya.net/en/New...-admiral-visits-Syria-in-show-of-support.html
Rear Adm. Guan Youfei met on Sunday with Syrian Defense Minister Fahd Jassem al-Freij in Damascus, the Xinhua News Agency said. He also met the following day with a Russian general who is coordinating his country’s military assistance to Assad's fight against armed opposition groups, the agency said.
Xinhua said Guan expressed China’s willingness to boost military cooperation with Syria, while the newspaper Global Times cited the Chinese Defense Ministry as saying that both sides agreed to expand personnel training and humanitarian aid via the Chinese military.
...Chinese military advisers are on the ground in Syria helping train soldiers in the use of weapons purchased from China, including sniper rifles, rocket launchers and machine guns, reported the Global Times, which is published by the ruling Communist Party’s flagship newspaper People’s Daily.
Although China wants to expand government-to-government and military-to-military cooperation, it’s unlikely to provide substantial military support, much less send personnel to fight on behalf of the regime, Wang said.
“More likely, the Chinese military wanted to use Guan’s trip to better understand the current state of the turmoil in Syria,” Wang said. "In developing a closer relationship with Syria, one has to take into account the changes at hand in Syria and the region, including the fast recovering relations between Turkey and Russia.”
Rear Adm. Guan Youfei met on Sunday with Syrian Defense Minister Fahd Jassem al-Freij in Damascus, the Xinhua News Agency said. He also met the following day with a Russian general who is coordinating his country’s military assistance to Assad's fight against armed opposition groups, the agency said.
Xinhua said Guan expressed China’s willingness to boost military cooperation with Syria, while the newspaper Global Times cited the Chinese Defense Ministry as saying that both sides agreed to expand personnel training and humanitarian aid via the Chinese military.
...Chinese military advisers are on the ground in Syria helping train soldiers in the use of weapons purchased from China, including sniper rifles, rocket launchers and machine guns, reported the Global Times, which is published by the ruling Communist Party’s flagship newspaper People’s Daily.
Although China wants to expand government-to-government and military-to-military cooperation, it’s unlikely to provide substantial military support, much less send personnel to fight on behalf of the regime, Wang said.
“More likely, the Chinese military wanted to use Guan’s trip to better understand the current state of the turmoil in Syria,” Wang said. "In developing a closer relationship with Syria, one has to take into account the changes at hand in Syria and the region, including the fast recovering relations between Turkey and Russia.”
