Why would China even need a naval base in Syria when most of China's attention must be on Taiwan? China does not need warships in Mediterranean to protect trade routes through the Suez and the Red Sea. That is the job of the PLA force in Djibouti.They lost access to a naval host in the Mediterranean sea, a land corridor through Iraq and Syria, trade route protection through the Suez canal and the Red Sea, and whoever ends up ruling Syria will be a US puppet that will block Chinese investment in the country. That one base could have cost the US billions of dollars and created a balance of power in the region.
Projection of military forces beyond the Indian Ocean won't be a priority for China until Taiwan is taken care of.
With the Russians in Tartus, do you seriously think there was even room for Syria to rent out to China to build a meaningful naval base?
The land corridor through Iraq is just a dream when the US still controls the bank accounts of the Iraqi government.
After Assad lost half of Syria to the rebels on the east and north, what are still there worth China to invest in?
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