China's is attempting to step into the political vacuum in Syria now that Washington and Damascus have mutually recalled their ambassadors, nullifying immediate American influence.
China is considered trustworthy by the Assad regime in Syria and by its ally Iran. China and Russia have blocked UN Security Council resolutions condemning the Syrian government for its crackdown and China is trying to stall an International Atomic Energy Agency report on the Iranian nuclear program that will dispel doubts over Tehran's intentions.
However, what makes China acceptable to the Assad regime hardly accredits Beijing to the anti-regime forces. China, prior to sending a special envoy Wu Sike to Syria and Egypt this week, made a gesture towards the opposition when Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said: ""We believe that Syria's government should proactively fulfill its promises of reform, and answer the people's reasonable demands," at a regular news briefing.
The Chinese are hoping that they can cobble up some sort of agreement between the regime and two moderate opposition parties: The Popular Front for Liberation and Change and the National Democratic Initiative. The Popular Front supports the Chinese call for solving the problem via dialogue.
The Chinese news agency Xinhua claims that this is the intention of the Assad regime that is forming a reconciliation body headed by Foreign Minister Farouk al-Sharaa..
The problem with the show of evenhandedness is that the two opposition parties are a rather tame opposition. If they were otherwise, they would not be cited in the government controlled Syrian press. They have been used, for example, to declare opposition to proposals by the Arab League to suspend Syrian membership.
According to Xinhua, the Syrian opposition rejects the idea floated by Senator John McCain during the world economic forum in Jordan of possible military operations to protect civilian lives in Syria now that hostilities in Libya have ended.