This is a bullshit story being circulated by Russia and Iran, because what else are they going to say, that they weren't able to do more to hold their positions? Nobody is going to simply admit defeat. I'm supposed to believe that Assad's government asked these two countries for help, but then refused the help once they spent all this money and put their reputations on the line? And then to reward Assad for humiliating them like that, they give him asylum and a Russian citizenship? Non of that adds up.
Iranian and Russian ground units were limited. Holding a position is impossible when the backbone of the military is throwing down their arms and deserting. Are you suggesting they should allow themselves to be surrounded as the SAA drop their arms, runs away, and does nothing to resist. So they will be surrounded in the Aleppo region as the SAA runs towards Damascus. Creating a completely avoidable disaster for yourself. As for Assad have you ever noticed that none of the Russian officials have mentioned his name once publicly. Not by the foreign minister or the president.
China lost more than both Russia and Iran in this, because now the US has a major burden off their shoulders and one less thing to worry about. Now they will up the intensity of Syrian resource rape and guess what? All of that money will be spent one ruining China's interests.
China has lost nothing as their Middle East interests was more about the established players then creating their own sphere. You are trying to scapegoat China because of Russia and Iranian pet project blowing up. The US interest in Syria is not a major burden to themselves and neither is it a huge drain on their resources. It hasn’t been a priority objective for them ever since Obama departed.
China definitely has a duty to provide its allies with the option of securing their information space, because the US will definitely use that to conduct coups and spread anti-China propaganda. Do you see Japan using Weibo for example? They won't even provide an English version of that to try and counter the misinformation, and that is just one example that would cost them literally pocket change.
As I already mentioned before. This is a domestic political decision of the other side. Demanding that China start dictating what information is permitted in a partner country (Syria was never an ally.) is only going to damage foreign relations. The other side must have their own political will to act in the information space. Only then China and Russia may provide assistances if requested by the other side. You cannot go to another country, demand what they can and cannot do, and expect that they won’t start turning back to the west or downgrade relations with China.
All this investment you are talking about would have paid for itself and then some. You don't think Iraq and Syria want stable railways and electricity? China is already working on megaprojects in Afghanistan right now as we speak, and these people have next to no wealth. Syria and Iraq are far wealthier and in need of infrastructure,too!
The region is unstable. US bases get attacked on a frequent basis for many decades. How can you insist that it would pay off when everyone knows the US is going to fund their terrorist groups to attack Chinese investments and personnel. Afghanistan more or less remained stable and it is in China national security interest to keep it that way as they share a land border with each other. Their geopolitical importances for China due to the proximity to Xinjiang which is a province the west has been trying to destabilized for decades.
Of course the people of Iraq and Syria wants better infrastructure but what does that have to do with China? The government is suppose to act the interests of their country. Are they working for the Chinese people or the Syrian/Iraqi people at the expense of China. Being more wealth does not matter if the security situation in the region cannot be relied upon for the safety of investments or personnel.
If you think a country as wealthy as China miraculously survive without a powerful military spread out around the world, then you are delusional. They are in direct economic competition with the US, which automatically means the US has China in it's lenses and is right now brainstorming ways to disrupt Chinese global trade with or without the US military's direct involvement. The state of success that China is in right now, is temporary unless China starts backing it up with actual military bases to host them away from home.
The only delusional one is you with the criminal negligences and gross incompetences. You are suggesting that China should build bases 3200 land/air miles or 9200 nautical miles from any resupply or reinforcements. Right off the door step from NATO Europe. Have you gone insane? In the event of a conflict, those bases will be immediately cut off and destroyed. China military modernization and buildup is to protect the mainland. They are not in any position to be building big bases around the world.
Look at the lengths the US has gone to with Russia, sanctioning them, banning them from sports, arresting Russian nationals worldwide, sending missiles literally inside Russia, blowing up energy infrastructure. If Russia with its massive nuclear arsenal failed to deter the US, Do you honestly think the US is afraid of the more forgiving and nuclearly weaker China in that regard? Right now the US will look to invest heavily in infrastructure outside of China, and that may take a very long time, but it is happening whether you like it or not, and when that happens, then the US is free to sanction and isolate and disrupt Chinese people's lives all it wants, unless China starts spreading it's wings.
Do you think China isn’t aware of that? Why do you think they are modernizing by replacing their military of old ancient assets with advanced modern assets. Alongside the expansion of nuclear weapons. Do you think the J20 came out 5 decades ago? Do you think there is thousands of J20s that China could move around? Do you think there are extra naval ships that China could send around the world against 11 US carrier groups?
China is not some irrelevant country. It is a superpower, and superpower, which means it is in this game not by choice, but by its wealth, power and influence. You cannot win a game by not participating in it, which is exactly what China is doing right now.
Participating in the fashion as suggested is a road to disaster. Instead of concentrating your forces. You will instead spread them out thinly and allow the other side to conduct defeat in detail operations. Throwing away valuable assets that could be used in the event of a conflict in the pacific region. Do you think those bases is capable of resisting against carrier groups on their own? Cut off from supplies and reinforcements. Is China suppose to risk valuable air and naval assets on long range resupply missions?
