White House Shoots Down Carson Claim That China Is In Syria
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Ben Carson has been claiming that China is in Syria as one of the forces we must contend with, claiming a “secret source.”
White House national security officials said Thursday there was no evidence to back Republican presidential hopeful Ben Carson’s claim that China has gotten involved in the Syrian conflict.
Carson’s comment, which confounded foreign-policy experts, came in response to a question at Tuesday’s Republican presidential debate about President Barack Obama’s decision to send 50 members of special-operations forces to Syria.
The retired neurosurgeon said that having US special-ops forces in Syria is better than not having them there, and then noted that Syria is a “very complex place.”
“You know, the Chinese are there, as well as the Russians, and you have all kinds of factions there,” Carson said.
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At the White House press briefing on Thursday, National Security Adviser Susan Rice pushed back on that claim.
“I really can’t speak to what [Carson] was referring to, but unless you’re talking about having a diplomatic presence, I’m not sure what he was referring to,” Rice said. “I have not seen any evidence of Chinese military involvement in Syria.”
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