China backs Assad forces against Turkey-backed rebels in Syrian civil war to restore ‘stability’

China has come to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s support at a time his regime is facing a pushback from opposition forces.

In the first offensive in nearly four years, Syrian opposition forces made rapid gains last week and captured much of the Aleppo city by the weekend.

Since 2020, the conflict between Assad’s regime and opposition was essentially frozen after opposition-supporter Turkey and Assad-supporter Russia reached a ceasefire deal . Now, at a time Assad’s allies Russia, Iran, and Iran-backed Hezbollah are distracted in their own conflicts with Ukraine and Israel respectively, the opposition forces have found the opportunity to make a move against the regime.

In a statement on Monday, Chinese Foreign Ministry said that it “supports Syria’s efforts to maintain national security and stability”.

“China is willing to make positive efforts to prevent further deterioration of the situation in Syria,” said Foreign Ministry Spokesman Lin Jian, according to AFP.

Even though Syrian and Russian warplanes have conducted airstrikes at opposition forces, they are believed to be in control of much Aleppo city and the surrounding areas.

Assad depends heavily on Russia, Iran, and Iran-backed groups in the region, such as the Lebanon-based Hezbollah and Iraq-based Shia militias, for survival. At one point, his regime had lost more than half of Syria but, following the direct Russian military intervention in 2015, the regime clawed back to control most of Syria.

Currently, the regime controls around 60 per cent of the country and the control of the rest of the country is fragmented between opposition forces and Kurdish militia in the northeast, according to The New York Times.

China has long supported Assad along with Russia and Iran in the region. Outside of West Asia and Russia, China is the only country that Assad has visited since the outbreak of the Syrian Civil War in 2011 that made him a pariah in much of the world over the excesses of his regime, including the usage of chemical weapons on Syrians.