Jinri Toutiao, one of China’s largest media agencies, has unveiled an article arguing that while the conflict in Syria might seem like a civil war between government and opposition forces, it is in reality “a deadly battle between Russia and NATO countries.”
According to the publication, Syria is of “great strategic importance”, and Russia’s deployment of troops to Syrian territory has thwarted foreign occupation and prevented more drastic bloodshed in Syria and beyond. “Otherwise, Syria would have been immediately occupied by the forces of other states or by anti-government troops. Then several extremist groups would go to the south of Russia,” the article says.
The publication also highlighted the fact that when the Russians became involved in the conflict, the situation turned favorable for Syrian troops.
Further, Jinri Toutiao pointed out that the United States, Britain and France have recently launched aggressive attacks on Syria, and the US aircraft carrier USS Harry Truman has entered the Mediterranean Sea.
“It may seem that the aim of this maneuver is to carry out a new air strike. However, the main goal is to block the way to Syria across the Black Sea: since Russia has no common land border with Syria, through the sea,” the article analyzed.
According to Chinese media, the NATO maneuvers in the Black Sea that took place in May also aimed to “put pressure on Russia.”
In other words, the Chinese media giant has a firm grasp on the geopolitics of the Syrian conflict and Russia-NATO confrontation. This is an important indication of China’s orientation. What’s more, other analysts, in addition to the Chinese agency, have added to the discussion, pointing out that although NATO leaders assure that their actions are not directed against Russia, their operations demonstrate the opposite reality.
In particular, columnist Ted Galen Carpenter of the US magazine The National Interest believes that US and NATO leaders need to “take a more realistic attitude” toward Russia.
“Any nation would find NATO’s behavior decidedly hostile and even threatening if it occurred within its borders,” the American analyst pointed out.
For Carpenter, if the West continues with such activities, this could lead to a failure of understanding and a “catastrophic confrontation.”