Syrian President Arrives in China on First Visit since the Beginning of War in Syria

FILE - In this photo released on Nov. 9, 2019 by the Syrian official news agency SANA, Syrian President Bashar Assad speaks in Damascus, Syria. (SANA via AP, File)
FILE - In this photo released on Nov. 9, 2019 by the Syrian official news agency SANA, Syrian President Bashar Assad speaks in Damascus, Syria. (SANA via AP, File)
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Syrian President Arrives in China on First Visit since the Beginning of War in Syria

FILE - In this photo released on Nov. 9, 2019 by the Syrian official news agency SANA, Syrian President Bashar Assad speaks in Damascus, Syria. (SANA via AP, File)
FILE - In this photo released on Nov. 9, 2019 by the Syrian official news agency SANA, Syrian President Bashar Assad speaks in Damascus, Syria. (SANA via AP, File)

Syrian President Bashar Assad arrived in China on Thursday on his first visit to the country since the start of Syria's 12-year conflict during which Beijing has been one of his main backers.
China’s foreign ministry said Assad would attend the opening ceremony of the Asian Games, an international sports event beginning Saturday in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou.
China has been expanding its reach in the Middle East after mediating a deal in March between Saudi Arabia and Iran, and it continues to support Assad in the Syrian conflict, which has killed half a million people and left large parts of the nation in ruins, The Associated Press said.
China could play a major role in the future in Syria’s reconstruction, which is expected to cost tens of billions of dollars. Syria last year joined China’s Belt and Road Initiative in which Beijing expands its influence in developing regions through infrastructure projects.
Assad’s office said earlier that the Syrian leader was invited by Chinese President Xi Jinping and would bring with him a high-ranking Syrian delegation.
Syria’s worsening economic crisis has led to protests in government-held parts of the country. Syria blames the crisis on Western sanctions and US-backed Kurdish-led fighters who control the country’s largest oil fields in the east near the border with Iraq.
Diplomatic contacts between Syria and other Arab countries have intensified following the Feb. 6 earthquake that hit Türkiye and Syria killing more than 50,000 people, including over 6,000 in Syria. Assad flew to Saudi Arabia in May where he attended the Arab League summit days after Syria’s membership was reinstated in the 22-member league.
Since Syria’s conflict began in March 2011 with pro-democracy protests and later turned into a civil war, Iran and Russia have helped Assad regain control of much of the country.
China has used its veto power at the UN eight times to stop resolutions against Assad’s government, the latest in July 2020.
Assad’s last and only visit to China was in 2004, a year after the US-led invasion of neighboring Iraq and at a time when Washington was putting pressure on Syria.



Lebanese and Palestinians Leaders Agree That Lebanon Won’t Be Used as a Launchpad to Strike Israel

This handout picture released by the Lebanese presidency shows Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun (R) welcoming his Palestinian counterpart Mahmoud Abbas at the Baabda presidential palace, east of the capital Beirut, on May 21, 2025. (Lebanese Presidency / Handout / AFP)
This handout picture released by the Lebanese presidency shows Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun (R) welcoming his Palestinian counterpart Mahmoud Abbas at the Baabda presidential palace, east of the capital Beirut, on May 21, 2025. (Lebanese Presidency / Handout / AFP)
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Lebanese and Palestinians Leaders Agree That Lebanon Won’t Be Used as a Launchpad to Strike Israel

This handout picture released by the Lebanese presidency shows Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun (R) welcoming his Palestinian counterpart Mahmoud Abbas at the Baabda presidential palace, east of the capital Beirut, on May 21, 2025. (Lebanese Presidency / Handout / AFP)
This handout picture released by the Lebanese presidency shows Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun (R) welcoming his Palestinian counterpart Mahmoud Abbas at the Baabda presidential palace, east of the capital Beirut, on May 21, 2025. (Lebanese Presidency / Handout / AFP)

The Lebanese and Palestinian presidents agreed Wednesday that Palestinian factions won't use Lebanon as a launchpad for any attacks against Israel, and to remove weapons that aren't under the authority of the Lebanese state.

The announcement was made during a meeting between President Joseph Aoun and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who arrived earlier in the day beginning a three-day visit to Lebanon, his first in seven years.

Lebanon's government is seeking to establish authority throughout the country, mainly in the south near the border with Israel after the 14-month Israel-Hezbollah war that ended in late November with a US-brokered ceasefire.

The 12 Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon aren't under the control of the Lebanese state, and Palestinian factions in the camps have different types of weapons. Rival groups have clashed inside the camps in recent years, inflicting casualties and affecting nearby areas.

It wasn't immediately clear how the weapons would be removed from the camps, which are home to tens of thousands of Palestinians, many of them descendants of families that fled to Lebanon after Israel was created in 1948.

Abbas' Fatah movement and the Hamas group are the main factions in the camps. Smaller groups also have a presence in the camps — mainly in Ein el-Hilweh, which is Lebanon's largest Palestinian refugee camp and located near the southern port city of Sidon.

A joint statement read by the Lebanese presidency's spokeswoman, Najat Sharafeddine, said that both sides have agreed that weapons should only be with the Lebanese state, and the existence of “weapons outside the control of the Lebanese state has ended.”

The statement said that both sides have agreed that Palestinian camps in Lebanon aren't “safe havens for extremist groups.” It added that “the Palestinian side confirms its commitment of not using Lebanese territories to launch any military operations.”

In late March, Israel intensified its airstrikes on Lebanon in response to Hamas allegedly firing rockets at northern Israel from southern Lebanon.

Shortly after the wave of airstrikes, the Lebanese government for the first time called out the Palestinian group and arrested nearly 10 suspects involved in the operation. Hamas was pressured by the military to turn in three of their gunmen from different refugee camps.

The nearly 400,000 Palestinians in Lebanon are prohibited from working in many professional jobs, have few legal protections and can't own property.