Syria FM says he wants to ‘strengthen relations’ with China

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Al-Shaibani arrives to raise the new Syrian flag during a raising ceremony at the UN Headquarters in New York. (File/AFP)

• Foreign ministry statement said that Shaibani met with the Chinese ambassador to the United Nations, Fu Cong, at UN headquarters in New York

DAMASCUS: Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Al-Shaibani expressed on Monday his government’s willingness to build a “strategic partnership” with China, a key backer of ousted ruler Bashar Assad.
A foreign ministry statement said that Shaibani met with the Chinese ambassador to the United Nations, Fu Cong, at UN headquarters in New York, where he had been representing Syria at a session of the Security Council.
In the meeting with Beijing’s envoy, Shaibani said Syria’s new government was seeking to “strengthen relations with China” and that the two countries “will work together to build a long-term strategic partnership in the near future,” according to the statement.
This was not the first high-level meeting between the two governments since militants toppled Assad in December, capping years of civil war. In late February, interim President Ahmed Al-Sharaa met with the Chinese ambassador to Damascus.