The Obama administration has no comment about GOP presidential hopeful Ben Carson’s expanded comments about Chinese military involvement in Syria, including the claim that China is giving the Syrian government weapons.
In a memo circulated by his campaign on Friday, his team clarified that when he said “the Chinese are there” in Syria, he was not implying that the PLA is fighting in Syria’s civil war.
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“Dr. Carson does not believe China is currently fighting in or deploying troops to Syria, and contrary to press reports, he has never made that assertion,” the memo stated.
Instead, he was referring to China’s “longstanding and well-documented security ties to Syria,” which include providing “various military weapons and equipment that Syria is using in the current conflict.”
Referring to various sources, including a Chinese-language article, Carson’s campaign pointed out arms sales between Beijing and Damascus.
In the decades past, China has regularly
sold missiles, missile technology and missile components to Syria, despite U.S. objections. Additionally, between 2006 and 2010, China was one of Syria’s
top five
suppliers of major conventional weapons.
A sale of an advanced radar system to the regime of Syrian strongman Bashar Assad predates the Syrian civil war but “experienced military analysts believe that China likely continues to provide logistic and training support for these weapons,” Carson’s campaign said. The memo also pointed out that Human Rights Watch has named a Chinese state-owned company as a chlorine gas manufacturer, the kind of which Assad has used on his civilians.
But when asked about Carson’s original comments, National Security Adviser Susan Rice on Thursday said she wasn’t sure what the retired neurosurgeon meant.
“I really can’t speak to what he was referring to but unless you’re talking about having a diplomatic presence, I’m not sure what he was referencing,” Rice said. “I have not seen evidence of Chinese military involvement in Syria.”
In light of his campaign’s clarification, White House press secretary Josh Earnest on Friday said he had no comment.”[M]aybe it violates my job description as a spokesperson to be speechless, but I think in this case, I am.”
The Carson memo maintained that he never asserted that Chinese soldiers were fighting in Syria and added that Carson has seen no evidence that they are.
“[C]redible sources have confirmed to our campaign that the Chinese aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, never transited through the region in recent days, despite press reports to the contrary,” the memo stated.
“Regardless, Dr. Carson’s claim that China is exerting its influence and has a presence in the ongoing Syrian conflict is well-supported by evidence, even if it is not evidence commonly available to or easily accessible by journalists without the requisite language skills or knowledge about Chinese military affairs,” the memo stated.
