China Military Says Providing Medical Training for Syria

Guan Youfei, director of the Office for International Military Cooperation of China's Central Military Commission, met Syrian Defense Minister Fahad Jassim al-Freij in Damascus last week and discussed personnel training.

Ministry Spokesman Wu Qian told a monthly news briefing that this year marked the 60th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two countries and that they had long been good friends.

"China has always played a proactive role in looking for a political resolution for the Syrian issue," he said, Reuters reported.

"At the agreement of both countries militaries, China has provided medical equipment as well as medicine and other humanitarian aid to Syria, mainly to ease the humanitarian crisis," Wu added.

"On the same consideration, China has also provided medical, nursing and other professional training," he said, without elaborating.

Asked whether Chinese troops were in Syria for the training and where it was being done, Wu said he would look into the matter and provide that information later.

China has been trying to get more involved, including sending envoys to help push for a diplomatic resolution to the violence there and hosting Syrian government and opposition figures.

Syria has been gripped by civil war since March 2011 with various terrorist groups, including Daesh (also known as ISIS or ISIL), currently controlling parts of it.

According to a report by the Syrian Center for Policy Research, the conflict has claimed the lives of over 470,000 people, injured 1.9 million others, and displaced nearly half of the country’s pre-war population of about 23 million within or beyond its borders.