Does China Have Any Bona Fide International Friends?

Friendship can be an important aspect of a state’s ability to succeed when engaging in great power politics, especially order building. Through engaging with the extant literature on friendship in International Relations (IR), it is argued that while friendships do arise along strategic, historic, normative, or cultural dimensions, the most important (and enduring) friendships are bilateral relationships which encompass all four of these dimensions – what we term a bona fide international friendship. One example of a bona fide friendship is the friendship between the United States and the United Kingdom which has endured for more than a century and has been a clear security boon to both. With China’s rise continuing apace, the importance for it to have friends, especially powerful ones, in the international political arena is self-evident. This article examines the concept of friendship in the scope of China’s foreign policy-making, identifying an increased effort – especially through cultural diplomacy – to cultivate friendships. However, this article argues that as it currently stands, China does not appear to have any significant bona fide international friends. Russia may yet emerge as a serious contender as a bona fide friend for China but– present circumstances may cause substantial strategic headaches in the coming decades. Thus, for China, building meaningful friendships is a critical task ahead of it. Tracey Fallon (Presenting) and Nicholas Ross Smith