China Power | Diplomacy

Why the China-Iran Relationship Has Been Friendly But Distant Since Ancient Times

The two civilizations have consistently found each other to be useful, yet they haven’t invested heavily in their partnership.

An ambassador from Persia visiting the court of the Tang dynasty. The Gathering of Kings (王会图), circa 650 CE.

During the recent conflict between the United States and Iran, China indirectly assisted the latter. Chinese companies and entities sent Iran chipmaking tools, provided satellite imagery of American forces in Saudi Arabia, allowed Iran to acquire a spy satellite used to capture images of U.S. air bases in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Jordan, and provided Iran with a material used for missile propellants.

Such support to Iran stemmed more from China’s interest in containing the U.S. in West Asia than from the China-Iran relationship itself.

China and Iran benefit enormously from their relationship. First, close relations yield significant material benefits. China is Iran’s largest trading partner and purchases around 90 percent of its oil. Because of international sanctions, Iran is unusually dependent on China for technology transfers and on its financial networks.

Second, China and Iran also share the goal of undermining the global order led by the United States. Both countries value their ancient “Silk Road” relationship and sympathize with efforts to push back against perceived American hegemony. They want to operate freely in their respective regions, while also keeping the United States and other third parties out of what they perceive as their spheres of influence. Along with Russia, they are Eurasian land powers that want to keep other powers, extraneous to their landmass, at bay.

Yet there is also only so much that China and Iran are willing to do for each other. China only provided platitude-laden diplomatic backing for Iran and continued to pursue friendly relations with Iran’s Gulf Arab rivals. China does not support a long-term closure of the Strait of Hormuz, as this would conflict with its own economic interests. Iran, whose modern society has generally been more oriented toward the West than to China, is also motivated to improve political and economic relations with the West rather than to always side with China. This is because Iran has realized that China is not willing to go out on a limb for Iran by taking its side at international forums or preventing sanctions, and may, in fact, prefer an isolated Iran to be dependent on it. Ultimately, China’s highest strategic goal is maintaining calm with the United States, even if this disadvantages Iran.

This friendly but distant relationship has been a characteristic of Sino-Iranian ties since ancient times. They have consistently found each other to be useful, yet they haven’t invested strongly in their partnership.

Chinese and Iranian empires have generally been on cordial terms. There was enough geographic distance between China and Iran, so their spheres of influence barely overlapped. Nor were they direct threats to each other, separated as they were by a number of city-states and steppe empires. But while they were close enough to one another to interact, due to their distance, China and Iran belonged to different geopolitical worlds that precluded overtly close and friendly relations.

The relationship, at the state level, between China and Iran is one of the oldest in history. Sinic and Iranian polities with roughly similar shapes and identities have existed and interacted with each other since the Han dynasty and........

© The Diplomat