Bashar al-Assad was an ally of both Iran and Russia, Beijing's key partners. Here is how his fall is being seen in China.

There is too much power in the hands of the US and regional actors like Turkey for China to play a key role After Russia and Iran's regional power projection, China's diplomacy is the most visible victim of the fall of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad at the hands of a coalition of rebel forces led by the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham.

Despite her pleasant air and sense of fashion, the now former Syrian First Lady Asma al-Assad was bound to be tied to her husband's fate. Born and raised in the UK, she was respected by some for openly battling cancer and later adored in China for her glamour.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has called for international efforts to prevent Syria from descending into further division and another refugee crisis, responding on Friday for the first time to the sudden collapse of Bashar al-Assad's Beijing-friendly regime last week.

China’s leadership is not happy about the fall of Assad. But compared to Russia and Iran, Beijing had far less at stake.

However, with the downfall of Syria’s Bashar al-Assad, and the catastrophic loss of Hamas and Hezbollah during its war against Israel, Tehran faces mounting geopolitical threats with splintered regional proxies.

As well as calling on authorities in Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia to guard against terror threats, experts also warned that the rebel takeover in Syria should be “a real cause for concern” for China.

The TIP has been based in Syria for more than a decade, with its members fleeing to the Middle East to escape China’s severe oppression of the Uyghurs, a largely Muslim minority group. Its fighters joined Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the Islamist group that led the rebel offensive, in a thrust out of the north-west of Syria.

Myanmar has been consumed by civil war since February, 2021, when a military junta overthrew the country’s semi-democratic government in a coup

Russia has accelerated its military withdrawal from Syria and suspended a grain deal with the country over concerns about the rebel-led government.

Russia and Iran kept Bashar al-Assad in power and are the biggest strategic losers from the toppling of his brutal regime. But also spare a thought for Xi Jinping, who used the dubious

During Monday’s Chinese Foreign Ministry press briefing, Mao Ning was grilled by journalists from China-Arab TV, Anadolu Agency, and AFP about the sudden collapse of Assad’s regime. Questions focused on the future of Sino-Syrian relations,