China and Russia should support and urge Assad's regime to reform in accordance with the Syrian people's will. At the same time, they should help resist outside interference. Only Syria's people can determine its future. If the reform wins the support of the majority, the regime is likely to live on.

Syria has become a place where countries in the Middle East as well as the world's great powers demonstrate their political ambition and place the bet. China, which has become involved in this issue, can pull out at any time, but will have to pay the price.

In the past, China has developed while abiding by a world order dominated by the West. But in the past few years, the world order has shown the tendency to limit China's development. It's unavoidable that China now sees the need to confront it. The Syrian issue can be seen as an unintentional confrontation point.

http://www.globaltimes.cn/NEWS/tabid/99/ID/697555/West-wants-Assad-out-democracy-or-not.aspx

China appears to now be prepared to play a more active role in defending the five principles of peaceful coexistence, otherwise known as panshasheel:

1. Mutual respect for each other's territorial integrity and sovereignty,
2. Mutual non-aggression,
3. Mutual non-interference in each other's internal affairs,
4. Equality and mutual benefit, and
5. Peaceful co-existence.

Hopefully, no longer will China remain silent, not using the levers of power at its disposal to help calm down the international situation and protect peace.

You took the words right out of my mouth. After living in China for the past 6 months I'm ready to tell them to fuck off to their faces.

And, in this case, it's a good thing that there is a brake on the momentum. A Sunni-Shi'ia regional war in the mideast is not in the interests of China, or of the U.S.

And they don't want anyone interfering there either.

Taiwan is a separate country and even if one were to take issue with that, they are still geographically isolated with an armed, independent government.

Closer to the mark would be Xinjiang, the part of China where the Uyghur people reside.

Syria's support in return.

They treat their own people like shit and they support many regimes around the world that treat their people like shit. On top of that they pick on the Dali Lama. That elevates them to the level of assholes.

They use tanks and brutality on own people, so to them repression and killing innocent people is how they keep power and ok for Syria to do same. Would like for Syrian people to remember that China and Russia stood with their oppressors when they win their freedom.
Chinese have no standing in telling anyone how civilized nations should behave.

...

by majority step down and hand over his country to a gang of mercenaries
funded by foreign powers and supported by a small minority. Can it get more
arrogant than that?