China meets with Syrian opposition

A delegation from the opposition Syrian National Committee for Democratic Change met with China’s deputy foreign minister Zhai Jun in Beijing on Thursday, just days after China’s veto on support for action against the Syrian government at the UN, the Financial Times reported. China this week vetoed a UN resolution condemning Syrian president Bashar-al-Assad, as security forces clashed with rebel groups. The veto led to criticism from the West and Arab world, recalling Beijing’s attempt to negotiate with both sides during the Libyan conflict last year. Beijing argued that blocking the resolution was an effort to avoid the type of one-sided military intervention which occurred in Libya.  “China’s veto does not mean the country is blindly giving support to the Syrian government,” the official Xinhua news agency said in an editorial. “The Syrian government has to speed up efforts to accommodate its people’s legitimate aspirations. Amid continuing violence, wide-ranging political and economic reform is the only solution to the 11-month crisis.”