Chinese state media on Saturday accused the US and Europe of “harbouring hegemonistic ambitions” in Syria, after Western and Arab nations ratcheted up pressure on Bashar al-Assad at a meeting in Tunisia. In a commentary Beijing’s official Xinhua news agency said that “most of the Arab countries have begun to realise that the United States and Europe are hiding a dagger behind a smile”.
“In other words, while they appear to be acting out of humanitarian concern, they are actually harbouring hegemonistic ambitions,” it said.
Xinhua claimed that the Friends of Syria conference — which was boycotted by both China and Russia — “concluded with a consensus on avoiding a militarisation of the conflict in Syria”.
But the meeting of more than 60 foreign ministers saw calls for Arab peacekeepers to intervene and for the opposition to be armed, as well as a US warning that Assad would pay a heavy price for defying international will.