Syria- The next domino?

[Mur]

No oil in Syria, and we need our secret prisons

[Ozfactor]

Chinas "Silk Road" will run straight through Syria to Europe. The middle East is a land grab between China and the West.

[MrPenny]

Nah.....the Chinese are interested in lower Africa. That's where most of their influence is going nowadays.

[Ozfactor]

The Middle East was an important bridge between Asia and Europe along the ancient Silk Road and since 1991, China has been rebuilding the Silk Road through the construction of a network of highways, pipelines, and rail lines from China to re-link the countries of Central Asia and Europe along this historic corridor (Georgian Daily, January 27). Beijing's renewed interest in Damascus—the traditional terminus node of the ancient Silk Road—in spite of Syria’s current status as an international pariah, indicates that China sees Syria as an important trading hub and partner for Chinese interests in Africa, Europe and the Middle East. Indeed, China dubs Damascus "ning jiu li," or "cohesive force," and Damascus is serving as a cohesive force as China’s Silk Road strategy converges with Syria’s "Look East" policy toward China (The Syrian Report, May 11, 2009; Gulf News, January 12).

source http://currenteventually.blogspot.com/2 ... ategy.html

These are one year old opinions that seem to be playing out.

[MrPenny]

I can see Damascus as a "hub" and gateway. It could be useful as a gateway to both inner Africa and Europe. But, their ultimate economic targets are much further south....

Be it financing and executing massive infrastructure projects — roads, power plants and mineral extraction, or small time commercial ventures such as textile, electronic and other household goods, the Chinese are literally driving the African economies.

[...]

Set up along the Chinese coastal provinces in the mid-1980s and credited for China’s developmental success, Beijing is now trying the same strategy in Africa by rolling out the economic zones in targeted African economies –Zambia, Mauritius, Egypt and Nigeria.
Others are being mooted in Angola, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Tanzania and Uganda.

The China-Africa Development Fund (CADFUND), a venture capital fund for Chinese firms to tap when investing in Africa, is spearheading the financing of Chinese companies looking to set up in these zones. “China’s “state capitalism” seeks to project power internationally through its companies that are rapidly becoming emerging multinationals,” says Dr Davis. HERE

There need for raw materials and a market for goods is perfectly met in Africa.