Chinese Discursive Strategies During the Syrian Civil War

Abstract

The Syrian situation crystallises all the questions related to the issue of the application of the responsibility to protect to sovereign states. It illustrates the delicate balance between the protection of human rights and international security. By contrast to the Russian position, China's has been more discreet and became more and more present in conjunction with the development of its geopolitical project Belt and Road Initiative. This chapter investigates all of these questions from the perspective of official Chinese discourses related to Syrian civil war. Beginning with the key assumption that what matters more to understanding how the Chinese view the international order is not what they say but how they say it, this chapter uses critical discourse analysis in order to unpack the implicit meanings of official Chinese narratives and views on the international order.