Syria’s Assad to head to China as Beijing boosts its reach in the Middle East

By ALBERT AJI and BASSEM MROUE
Associated Press

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — The office of Syria’s President Bashar Assad says he will head to China later this week in his first visit to Beijing since his country’s conflict started 12 years. Assad is scheduled to arrive Thursday in China, which has been one of his main supporters during the conflict that has killed half a million people. China could play a major role in the future in Syria’s reconstruction that is expected to cost tens of billions of dollars. Syria last year joined China’s Belt and Road Initiative in what would help Beijing expand its influence in the Middle East.