View From Beijing: Why China is Not Protecting Iran

Mar 11, 2026

Wang Zichen, deputy secretary-general at the Center for China and Globalization and author of the discussed Foreign Policy article, explains why Beijing avoids formal security patronage. He contrasts Chinese partnerships with U.S. alliances. He discusses how domestic priorities, limited expeditionary capacity, and commercial ties shape China’s restrained approach to countries like Iran.

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INSIGHT

China's Partnerships Are Not Security Alliances

China treats relationships with Iran and Venezuela as partnerships, not alliances with binding security commitments.
Wang Zichen emphasizes Beijing's terminology and intent: partnerships carry no presumption of military obligation like U.S. alliances.

INSIGHT

Domestic Priorities Shape China's Restraint

Domestic priorities drive Chinese foreign policy: economic stability, jobs, technology and social stability come first.
Wang Zichen notes Xi's repeated message that the Party's primary duty is improving Chinese living standards, shaping external restraint.

INSIGHT

U.S. Wars Teach China To Avoid Military Fixes

China views recent U.S. wars as cautionary, seeing military intervention often fail to build durable political orders.
Wang points to Iraq and Afghanistan as lessons shaping Beijing's reluctance to export force overseas.

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Conservative media outlets and think tank analysts in the United States have sharply criticized China for what they say is Beijing's failure to support its supposed "allies" in Venezuela and Iran. Their arguments have gained traction on X and other social media platforms, where critics portray China as an unreliable partner that avoids confrontation, especially with the United States.

Other analysts dispute that interpretation. Scholars such as Evan Feigenbaum of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace argue the criticism rests on a flawed assumption: that China's relationships with countries like Iran resemble the formal alliance commitments the United States maintains with its partners. In reality, Beijing's partnerships carry no comparable security guarantees.

In a recent Foreign Policy article, Wang Zichen, deputy secretary-general of the Beijing-based Center for China and Globalization, pushes back against these critiques. He outlines China's strategic priorities and explains why Beijing is unlikely to offer the kind of security commitments that define U.S. alliances.

Zichen joins Eric to discuss why China structures its global relationships differently—and why Beijing has little intention of acting as a security patron for partners like Iran.

📌 Topics Covered in this Episode

Why U.S. critics say China is abandoning its partners
Why China does not treat Iran or Venezuela as formal allies
The difference between U.S. alliances and Chinese partnerships
How China's domestic priorities shape its foreign policy
Why Beijing avoids acting as a global security guarantor
What this debate reveals about U.S. and Chinese strategic thinking

Show Notes:

Foreign Policy: China Won't Play Security Patron for Iran by Wang Zichen
Beyond the Ideological: The Iran Question Is All About China by Zineb Riboua
Foundation for Defense of Democracies: Beijing Offers Tehran Lukewarm Rhetorical Support as Iranian Actions Threaten China's Oil, Trade Flows by Jack Burnham and Max Meizlish

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