China's policy towards US adversaries

Abstract

If the Chinese government is trying to reassure the US that China's rise is not threatening, why does China diplomatically support adversaries of the US such as Iran, Sudan, Libya, and Syria? This thesis shows that soft balancing against the US in concert with Russia best explains China's foreign policy towards these states. Economic interest and a number of other alternative theories, in contrast, do not explain the observed variation in China's policy. Critics of soft balancing have overstated their case; concrete instances of soft-balancing behavior are present in the international system.