Has President Trump turned on the very values that got him elected to office by caving to the establishment and becoming part of the swamp that he promised to drain? The attack on Syria was orchestrated during the talks to act as a surprise show of force with an attempt to intimidate China over the North Korean and China Sea area militarization issues. How China reads and reacts to the strike on Syria remain to be seen. China could double down and become more forceful by standing up to President Trump on North Korea and the islands militarization. President Xi just departed from the two day meeting with President Trump without having a press conference. We will have to wait to get his views on how the meeting went.
According to US Secretary of State Tillerson stated, “President Trump indicated to President Xi …we would be happy to work with them, but we understand it creates unique problems for them and challenges and that we would and are prepared to chart our own course if this is something China is just unable to coordinate with us,” after their meeting.
The Russian Kremlin stated on April 7th, “The President of Russia regards the US airstrikes on Syria as an act of aggression against a sovereign state delivered in violation of international law under a far-fetched pretext…” also President Putin had conducted a telephone call with Prime Minister Netanyahu on April 6th, “…exchanged views on the incident involving chemical weapons on April 4 in the Syrian province of Idlib. Mr Putin underscored, in particular, that it is unacceptable to make groundless accusations against any party until a thorough and objective international investigation has been conducted…”
Further the Russian Foreign Ministry released a Statement on 7 April stating, “However, we will never agree to unsanctioned action against the legitimate Syrian government that has been waging an uncompromising war on international terrorism for a long time…Russia suspends the Memorandum of Understanding on Prevention of Flight Safety Incidents in the course of operations in Syria signed with the US…”
The Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying stated during her press conference on April 7th and when asked about the building on artificial islands, “The deployment of necessary national defense facilities is for the aim of safeguarding China’s own territory…” On Syria she stated, “The Chinese side upholds the principle of non-interference in others’ domestic affairs. We believe that the future of Syria should be left in the hands of the Syrian people themselves… We respect the Syrian people’s choice of their own leaders and development path…”
On April 8th she responded about the airstrikes on Syria,