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China Presents Plan to End Syrian Conflict China Presents a Four-Point Proposal For Resolving the Civil War in Syria
(about 9 hours later)
A new proposal to end the conflict in Syria was presented on Thursday by China, one of the Syrian government’s few foreign defenders, which calls for a phased-in truce, the establishment of a transitional authority and an intensified international response to the humanitarian crisis afflicting millions of Syrians. BEIRUT, Lebanon — China unveiled a vague four-point peace plan for Syria on Thursday that called for a cease-fire in stages and a political transition to end the conflict.
It was unclear whether the proposal, presented during a visit to Beijing by the special Syria peace envoy, Lakhdar Brahimi, differed substantially from a plan that Mr. Brahimi is formulating in an attempt to end the 20-month-old conflict. But it appeared to reflect concern by Chinese leaders that their consistent support for the legitimacy of the government of President Bashar al-Assad had strained China’s relations with other Arab countries that have been pushing for Mr. Assad’s removal. The plan lacked crucial specific details, however, like what role President Bashar al-Assad of Syria would play in any transition. China has been one of his main international backers since the uprising started in March 2011.
China’s proposal also was publicized a day after the United States, a strong supporter of the anti-Assad rebellion in Syria, announced its own aggressive proposals to reshape the Syrian opposition, which has been criticized as a dysfunctional group led by out-of-touch Syrian exiles who have little feel for the combat that is convulsing much of the country. The American proposal, outlined by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, is to be presented at a meeting of Syrian opposition figures in Qatar next week. But the fact that China’s announcement came one day after the United States made it clear that the Syrian opposition needed new leadership underscored a subtle shift in international attitudes toward resolving the conflict.
Together, the proposals by China and the United States suggested that the big powers on opposite sides of the Syria conflict had grown increasingly impatient with what appears to be a stalemate on the ground. There have also been indications that the antagonists believe that the only way to settle the conflict is by military force, as seen in the failure of Mr. Brahimi’s cease-fire proposal over the weekend. The Syrian government and the opposition have battled to a bloody stalemate after 20 months, at a cost of more than 30,000 lives, and there is a sense that fresh diplomatic opportunities might change the dynamic.
Hong Lei, a spokesman for China’s Foreign Ministry, told reporters in Beijing that Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi gave “constructive new suggestions” to Mr. Brahimi, who is the joint special representative for the United Nations and the Arab League. “The new proposal is an extension of China’s efforts to push forward a political resolution of the Syrian issue,” the spokesman said. “There has been a generalized shift toward a recognition that developments on the ground have created space for new leaders, new organizational frameworks and new governance to emerge,” said Steven Heydemann of the United States Institute of Peace, who is working with the opposition on possible transition plans.
Xinhua, the official Chinese news agency, said that under the proposal, “all parties should stop the violence” via a phased-in, region-by-region cease-fire and designate representatives to negotiate a path to a political transition. Xinhua said the proposal also called for international support for efforts by Mr. Brahimi and a group of influential powers convened by his predecessor in the job, Kofi Annan, to mediate a transition, and for “effective measures to address the humanitarian crisis in Syria.” Although the opposition has yet to gain lasting control over any significant city, Mr. Heydemann said that certain areas had fallen outside government control to the point that local leaders and councils had emerged as alternatives with which to carry on negotiations.
But Syrian political experts noted that the Chinese proposal does not call for Mr. Assad to step down, which has been a precondition made in the past by opposition groups that contend that he cannot play any role in Syria’s political future. The most recent attempt at a cease-fire during the four days of the Id al-Fitr holiday last weekend, which was negotiated by the international envoy, Lakhdar Brahimi, failed, and each side still believes it can fight its way to victory.
“It looks like the Annan plan of old because it would retain much of the old regime in place,” said Joshua Landis, director of the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Oklahoma and author of Syria Comment, a widely followed blog on Syria. “The opposition is committed to thorough regime change and will not accept Assad in power.” But there have been subtle hints that alternate possibilities are not being rejected out of hand.
China and Russia, permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, have both vetoed resolutions presented by other members that would have threatened Mr. Assad with punitive consequences if he did not take steps to resolve the conflict in Syria, which started in March 2011 as a peaceful uprising against him that he sought to violently crush by force. In Syria, for example, a columnist in the state-controlled newspaper Al Thawra suggested on Wednesday that room exists for further efforts, while reiterating the government position that outside plots led to the cease-fire’s failure. It praised the Russian foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, for saying at a recent news conference that he would speak to all political parties involved.
Both China and Russia have said they will block any outside effort that could lead to foreign military intervention in Syria or impose a change of government that had not been decided by Syrians. But their vetoes have been widely criticized in the Arab world as providing a shield for Mr. Assad to intensify his military campaign. “That is the first necessary step for anyone really and earnestly seeking a political solution,” the columnist, Assad Abboud, wrote. “Sanctions, boycotts, and laying siege to one party in an attempt to strengthen another leave no objective chance for political action that seeks a solution.”
The conflict has since evolved into an armed uprising against Mr. Assad that has left 20,000 to 35,000 people dead, has created a humanitarian crisis for two and a half million inside Syria, and could send more than 700,000 Syrians into neighboring countries by year’s end, according to the United Nations. There is also public opinion to take into account. Activists note that the Syrian public is exhausted by the conflict, and increasingly annoyed by fighters on both sides.
China’s diplomatic initiative came as new reports of deadly violence filtered out of Syria. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based group with a network of contacts in Syria, reported that rebels had killed 28 soldiers in attacks on checkpoints on the main road between Damascus, the capital, and Aleppo, a northern city that has been under siege since the summer. “People inside want any solution; they want security,” said Rami, a young activist in Beirut who would be identified only by one name out of concern for his safety. “No one can stand the pressure anymore.”
“If we want to be honest, we’re waiting for a truce, we want to negotiate for him to leave,” he added, referring to President Assad.
China has long stood behind Moscow in supporting Damascus, also vetoing three Security Council resolutions meant to address the conflict.
But Mr. Brahimi, the envoy, has insisted that for negotiations on a political solution to move forward, he needs the backing of a unified Security Council. The Chinese proposal seemed intended to address that condition.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry proposal began with an expression of support for Mr. Brahimi. It called for humanitarian aid for refugees from the conflict without regard for political or military demands.
A cease-fire should be carried out “by district and in stages,” the proposal said without elaborating, with the final goal an end to all fighting. Government institutions, it said, should continue to function, while the parties to the conflict identify members of negotiating bodies to participate in the transition process.
“For China to bring up this proposal now is to bring the global community together, cooperate with Brahimi’s mediation efforts and push on the political resolution process and realize the cease-fire as soon as possible,” Hong Lei, the spokesman for the Foreign Ministry, told reporters.
But diplomats who had seen the proposal said it left out as much as it contained. It did not address the utter failure of the last cease-fire, for example, nor suggest any kind of timetable.
All five permanent members of the Security Council signed off on an agreement in Geneva last June that they would try to achieve a peaceful political transition in Syria. Mr. Brahimi is trying to add specifics to the bare bones of that plan.
He, too, is not working under any specific timetable. Having just visited Moscow and Beijing, he denied reports that he would present the Security Council with a more specific plan in the coming weeks.

Hwaida Saad contributed reporting.