Identity, China’s foreign policy and Iran’s nuclear program

Abstract

Iran’s nuclear program has been one of the most challenging international issues since the beginning of the 2010s. As an emerging superpower, China has sought to play an active role in international crises, including the Iranian nuclear case. China’s mainly focus was not whether to engage, but how to engage, and what proposals should be made when engaging to solve the dilemma in order to benefit multiple interests. This research tries to answer the question of what the components of China’s foreign policy towards Iran’s nuclear program are and how it is constructed within the framework of holistic constructivist theory. The methodology of this research is historical analysis as well as descriptive analytical methods. This paper proposes a categorisation of the six identity discourses that China exhibits on the Iranian nuclear issue. In this vein, the role of the international normative environment, which might have either aggressive or modifying impacts, should not be neglected. So China has sought to deal with Iran’s nuclear program peacefully through the framework of the Non-Proliferation Treaty in cooperation with the United States.