[SunkenCiv]

China's been trying to turn Africa into a manufacturing location to sell into the Chinese market, in order to keep wage creep under control. Meanwhile, the Turks' relatives in China have been pushing for independence for a good while now, and China's possible entry into the Syrian quagmire would not be good news for either Turkey or Russia. The difference is, Erdogan probably can't extricate himself, Putin probably can.

• China To Enter Syrian Civil War [08/04/2018]
• Chinese Ambassador: "We Are Willing To Participate 'In Some Way' In The Battle For Idlib" trunc [08/02/2018]
• Wary Of Unrest Among Uighur Minority, China Locks Down Xinjiang Province [09/26/2017]
• Exclusive: Turkey to deploy troops inside Syria's Idlib -- Erdogan [09/22/2017]Turkey's Davutoglu condemns Russia for strikes on Syria's Idlib [12/22/2015]
• Bangkok bomb: Thai authorities suspect Uighur link to Erawan shrine attack [08/19/2015]
• Thailand sends nearly 100 Uighur migrants back to China [Deporting Muslims] [07/09/2015]
• Taiwan to aid businesses transferring production bases as US-China trade conflict escalates: MOEA [08/05/2018]
• 'No Cambodia left': how Chinese money is changing Sihanoukville [08/04/2018]
• China Dethroned by Japan as World's Second-Biggest Stock Market....... [08/04/2018]
• Reports: Sen. Dianne Feinstein's Personal Driver For 20 Years Was A Chinese Spy [08/03/2018]
• Details Surface About Chinese Spy Who Worked For Sen. Feinstein [08/02/2018]
• GE engineer (Chinese) charged with stealing turbine technology [08/02/2018]
• Google reported to launch censored search engine in China, marking shift in strategy [08/01/2018]

[mrsmith]

Yeah, China’s OBOR plans in the Mid-East have been setback drastically.

Wish I could show more evidence that China is, and has been, paying Russia for it’s Syria war. that kind of activity is easily hidden.
China has greatly increased it’s purchases of Russian oil (Russis now #1 source). and ...
“Since Mr Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping signed the gas supply agreement in 2014, Chinese banks and companies have poured more than $40bn into Russian businesses, from loans to projects such as a $27bn liquefied natural gas plant in the Arctic and share purchases such as CEFC China Energy’s 14.2 per cent stake in oil company Rosneft. “
https://ig.ft.com/gazprom-pipeline-power-of-siberia/
Yeah, not definitive...

China still needs that ME market though. I expect them to support ‘regime change’ in Iran. The Mullahs cause too much trouble, China needs peace in ME to sell there.