Since the fall of the Assad regime, China has moved quickly and deliberately to expand its economic presence in Syria. The scale and speed of that investment is not incidental. The country Syria becomes will be shaped in part by who it opens its doors to, and who walks through them first. Investment from authoritarian states does not come without strings, it carries with it the values, incentives, and interests of the governments behind it. Syria deserves partners who share its aspirations for freedom, not those who propped up the regime that oppressed it.