With regard to Syria the west has painted itself into a corner.

 A significant part of the lauded democratic and peaceful protester the west intensely promoted turned out to be brutal sectarian fighters who, if they win, are likely to turn around and fight against western interests.

Now China is offering its help. It has prepared the ground for finding a solution very well. If it really can pull this off we are witnessing a major change in international Middle East policies with the role of the west diminished and with China established there as a new significant, though for now only "soft", power.

Al-Qaeda's role in Syria is increasing with the founding of a new al-Bara’ ibn Malik Martyrs Brigade ready for suicide killings. It uses the al-Qaida flag and its historic name points to anti-Shia sectarianism:

In the latter part of the Battle of Yamamah, when the opposition forces led by Musaylimah (referred in Islamic historiography as al-Kadhab or the Liar) were beginning to lose the battle they hid behind a gated garden. Prior to launching an assault on the garden, al-Bara’ ibn Malik stated: “يا أهل المدينة، لا مدينة لكم اليوم، إنما هو الله، والجنة” or “Oh People of al-Madinah, there is no al-Madinah for you after this day. There is only Allah, then Paradise.” Ibn Malik was hoisted upon a fellow soldiers shield to try and jump over the gate, which he succeeded. He sustained wounds, but was able to break open the gate allowing the rest of the Muslim army to defeat Musaylimah’s men. The episode would later refer to the “Garden of Death.”
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There are three key points that should be highlighted from the above description of al-Bara’ ibn Malik: (1) he had an important role in defeating “apostates;” (2) his quote from above shows his willingness for martyrdom in the face of tough odds; and (3) he fought against the Persian Empire, which although Persians were not Muslims or Shi’a for that matter at that time one can imagine the symbolism of Ibn Malik fighting against the Persians.

This happened even after James Clapper, director of U.S. national intelligence, warned that the recent suicide bombings in Syria were done by al-Qaida. It is therefore likely that there are now several such groups, probably independent from each other, operating in Syria. Some in the western media are waking up to what we discussed here even nine month ago. The Torygraph's Peter Osborne warns the British government:

Think about it. Ten years ago, in the wake of the destruction of the Twin Towers, we invaded Afghanistan to eliminate al-Qaeda. Now the world’s most notorious terror organisation wants to join a new “coalition of the willing” in Syria (not just al-Qaeda: yesterday the Muslim group Hizb ut-Tahrir staged a march through west London in support of their Syrian brothers and the establishment of the Khilafah state).
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Yet, in recent public pronouncements David Cameron has repeatedly spoken of the conflict in Syria as a struggle between an illegal and autocratic regime at war with what he likes to call “the people”. Either he is poorly briefed, or he is coming dangerously close to a calculated deception of the British public. For the situation is far more complicated than he has admitted. It is far from obvious, for example, even that a majority of Syrians are opposed to the Assad regime. Russia calculates that perhaps two thirds of Syrians are still broadly supportive, and it is worth recalling that Russia was a more accurate source of information in the run-up to the invasion of Iraq than either Britain or the US.
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I hope that the Prime Minister and his Foreign Secretary, William Hague, know what they are doing as they allow Britain to be dragged closer towards further intervention in the Middle East. But judging from their public remarks they may be playing a game whose rules they do not fully understand.

But Cameron and others have painted themselves into the corner. After demanding regime change how can they now turn around and support Assad who is in the best position to fight the danger Peter Osborne is warning of?  They will need help to get out.

There are signs that some western politicians now finally understand this. After the UN veto by Russia and China a "Friends of Syria" group was planned to be founded to prepare for unilateral regime destruction by proxy-force or direct attack. Those plans seem to have changed.

Tunisia, which will host the groups first meeting on February 24, invited not only the western and Arab League members but also Russia and China who had vetoed the regime change resolution at the UNSC. The exile regime change group, the Syrian National Council was not invited. It is unlikely that Tunisia would have done this without western agreement.

But who will solve the mess the west, by supporting an Salafi uprising disguised as democracy promotion, has navigated itself into. Russia is seen as pro-Assad and therefore not judged to be a fair negotiator in Syria.

In come the Chinese. They are surely seeing a role for themselves in solving this conflict. They prepared the field even several weeks ago:

Wu Sike, the Chinese special envoy to the Middle East, visited Syria recently and exchanged views with Syrian officials and opposition groups.

China also received a Syrian opposition delegation on Feb. 6-9.

Those meetings were followed this weekend by a visit of the Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Zhai Jun in Syria where he did not only talk with Bashar Assad:

Zhai also met with representatives of concerning opposition groups in Syria, namely Syrian National Coordination Committee for Democratic Change, Popular Front for Change and Liberation and Syrian State Building Movement.

The representatives, who met Zhai respectively on Saturday, told the Chinese delegation that they value the important role that China has played in solving the Syrian issue, and is willing to maintain close communication with the Chinese side.

They also introduced to the Chinese envoy their propositions in solving the Syrian issue and said that they are against violence and external intervention.

It seems that Chinese foreign diplomats, who now suddenly appear on AlJazeerah, do not only speak better Arabic than the western ones but are also much more knowledgeable about who to talk to and how to find a compromise.

If China can somehow find a solution here then we have seen a major change in general Middle East policies. The French, British and the U.S. have for the last century been the decisive powers in the Middle East. With regard to Syria the west has painted itself into a corner by supporting the wrong side of a conflict. It can not escape from that corner but by waging a war that would be against its own interest or by letting the Chinese solve the problem.

If their diplomacy finds a good solution for Syria the Chinese will have won major standing with regards to future conflicts in the Middle East. They could then even help to find a way to tame U.S. aggression against Iran, another conflict where the west also paints itself into a corner and is on verge to launch a major catastrophic war against its own interests.