Iran and China: A New Approach to Their Bilateral Relations PDF
Preview Iran and China: A New Approach to Their Bilateral Relations
Iran and China .d e vre se r sth g ir llA .sko o B n o tg n ixe L .7 1 0 2 © th g iryp o C .d e vre se r sth g ir llA .sko o B n o tg n ixe L .7 1 0 2 © th g iryp o C Iran and China A New Approach to Their Bilateral Relations Shirzad Azad .d e vre se r sth g ir llA .sko o B n o tg n ixe L .7 1 0 2 © th g iryp o C LEXINGTONBOOKS Lanham•Boulder•NewYork•London PublishedbyLexingtonBooks AnimprintofTheRowman&LittlefieldPublishingGroup,Inc. 4501ForbesBoulevard,Suite200,Lanham,Maryland20706 www.rowman.com UnitA,WhitacreMews,26-34StannaryStreet,LondonSE114AB Copyright©2017byLexingtonBooks .d e vre Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthisbookmaybereproducedinanyformorbyany se electronicormechanicalmeans,includinginformationstorageandretrievalsystems, r sth withoutwrittenpermissionfromthepublisher,exceptbyareviewerwhomayquote gir llA passagesinareview. .sko BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationInformationAvailable o B n o tgn LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData ixe L .71 LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationDataAvailable 0 2 © ISBN:978-1-4985-4457-3(cloth:alk.paper) th ISBN:978-1-4985-4458-0(electronic) g iryp TMThepaperusedinthispublicationmeetstheminimumrequirementsofAmerican o C NationalStandardforInformationSciencesPermanenceofPaperforPrintedLibrary Materials,ANSI/NISOZ39.48-1992. PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica Contents Preface vii Introduction ix Chapter1:The1980s:MarkingaWatershedinSino–IranianTies 1 Chapter2:UnderEminencesGrises:VowingPerpetualPartnership 17 Chapter3:SameTalks,ContrastingConnotations:Civilizational Nuances 31 Chapter4:PrinciplismEngagesPragmatism:FailuresandFrictions 47 Chapter5:ANewEra:TowardStrategicEquilibrium 75 Conclusion 95 .d Bibliography 99 e vrese Index 103 r sthg AbouttheAuthor 109 ir llA .sko o B n o tg n ixe L .7 1 0 2 © th g iryp o C v .d e vre se r sth g ir llA .sko o B n o tg n ixe L .7 1 0 2 © th g iryp o C Preface This book is written from the viewpoint that the old relationship between Iran and China is essentially a horse of a different color and has little to do withthewaythetwocountrieshavemanagedtheirtiesoverthepastseveral decades. It instead studies the interactions between the two countries in the post-1980era,duringwhichtheirrelationshavebyandlargebeenunceasing andincremental.Ratherthanprovidingadetailedaccountofmyriadpolitico- economic connections involving the two sides, I paid particular attention to howIranandChinahavetreatedeachothersincetheearly1980s.Thebook, therefore, as much as possible, aims to keep away from descriptive narra- tives,particularlyrecapitulatingwhatotherworksalreadyhavetackled. One other important matter is that the Iranian–Chinese relationship, like all other formal state-to-state relations, has never been linear: their bilateral tiesover more thanthree andone-halfdecadesoften havebeenfraughtwith .de upsanddowns.I endeavorto cover as concisely as possible all majorissues vrese that have mattered most in Tehran’s relationship with Beijing since 1980 r sth withoutpreoccupationwithhowthetwopartiescouldhavesortedthingsout g ir llA otherwise.Havingsaidthat,myargumentwithregardtoalikelydirectionof .sko theSino–Iranianrelationshipintheforeseeablefutureisbasedonmyunder- oB standingofhowthepoliticalestablishmentsinBeijingandTehranfunction. n o tg n ixe L .7 1 0 2 © th g iryp o C vii viii Preface Finally, I am an Iranian citizen who is discontented with the current situationofChinesestudiesinmyhomecountry.Ihopethatthepresentwork contributes humbly to the relevant existing literature and fills a tiny fraction ofthegapmyfellowcitizensathomeandabroaddefinitelyhadbetteroppor- tunities and resources to fill a long time ago. And although I appreciate the incisive feedback and invaluable suggestions of the anonymous reviewers (nomatterthatIdisagreedwithsomeoftheiropinions),allshortcomingsand mistakesinthisbookareminealone. ShirzadAzad Beijing March6,2016 .d e vre se r sth g ir llA .sko o B n o tg n ixe L .7 1 0 2 © th g iryp o C Introduction RESEARCHTHEME The contemporary scholarship on the Iranian–Chinese relationship tends generally to drift toward two contrasting lines of argument. Based on one assertion, Iran and China are principally perceived to be “perfect partners,” “close companions,”“matchless matches,” “cordial comrades,”“amiableal- lies,” and so forth. The Sino–Iranian ties often are contended to be deep- rootedandbuiltonverysolidfoundationssothatneitherephemeralexternal elementsnorevenfundamentaldomesticdevelopmentsineithercountrycan seriously dent the fortified edifice of their somewhat multifaceted connec- tions. In abroader context,moreover, IranandChinausuallyare asserted to be two key angles of an indispensable triangle in the Eurasian arch that shapesanexusofcontinentalpowerswhosecombinedresourcesandoverall .de significance make multipolarity in the structure of an international system vrese stark in its clarity. These two ancient countries continue as usual to obsess r sth thestrongerrivalarchofpowerintheworldforsomehighlycriticalinterests g ir llA at stake, ranging from socio-cultural uniqueness to political ideologies and .sko fromterritorialintegritytostrategicspheresofinfluence.Therefore,thevery oB nexus of theTehran–Beijingpartnership isclaimedto besopivotal that any n otg trivial matter in their bilateral relationship essentially pales into insignifi- n ixe cancebycomparison. L .71 At the other extreme, the Iranian–Chinese interactions are maintained to 0 2 © be merely a “limited partnership,” “mismatched relationship,” “marriage of th giryp convenience,” “fair-weather friendship,” “unlikely affiliation,” and so forth. o By cherry-picking certain statistics or highlighting particular developments C inSino–Iranianrelationsduringthepastdecades,thislineofassertionbyand large neither believes in any robust foundation that sustains the contours of ix
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