Joshua Philipp | Epoch Times
[caption id="attachment_4865" align="alignleft" width="300"] After aerial bombardment by the Syrian government of Azaz in Aleppo (Guest2625, wikipedia)[/caption]
While Russia has been forthright about its military support for the the Syrian government, the Chinese regime is offering similar support, but from the shadows.
China’s supply of weapons to the Syrian government is not sent directly.
Instead, the weapons are going through Iran, which alongside Russia is a primary supplier of weapons to the Assad regime.
The Chinese regime supplies 31.7 percent of arms to Iran, despite sanctions, according to The Diplomat. These shipments consist mainly of air defense systems and missiles, including its HongQi-7 surface-to-air missile (SAM) systems and Crotale R440 SAMs.
After receiving these weapons from the Chinese regime, The Diplomat reports, Iran is in turn sending a large portion of these weapons to the Assad regime, where they’re being used to crush the Syrian opposition.
The effects of these weapons are already being felt on the ground. Rami Abdulrahman, director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told Reuters that the Syrian military recently started using new weapons that fit the description of those provided by Russia and China.
“There are modern weapons that the regime didn’t previously have, be they rocket launchers or air to ground to missiles,” Abdulrahman said.
An unnamed source also told Reuters, “The weapons are highly effective and very accurate, and hit targets precisely. We can say they are all types of weapons, be it air or ground.”
Business Insider reported in April that Chinese weapons are also being used by the terrorist organization ISIS, which many Arab groups believe is aligned with—or at the very least not being targeted by—the Assad regime.
ISIS in Iraq and Syria is using man-portable air defense systems (MANPADS) from China or Russia, which Business Insider said “were likely supplied by the Assad regime.”
It also notes that Russian, Iranian, and Chinese ammunitions “flooding the battle zones were likely looted by ISIS and other jihadists from Syrian military bases.”