China and Intervention at the UN Security Council

Reconciling Status

Courtney J. Fung

Provides the first comprehensive conceptual and empirical study of China's response to intervention at the UN Security Council
Develops a theory for analyzing the effects of status and China's 'status dilemma'
Draws on a large body of primary evidence including participant observation at UN Headquarters, extensive fieldwork with over 200 interviews of primarily UN and Chinese foreign policy elites, and extensive use of Chinese-language sources
Provides an in-depth case study of contemporary cases of UN intervention in Sudan, Libya, and Syria

China and Intervention at the UN Security Council

Reconciling Status

Courtney J. Fung

Description

What explains China's response to intervention at the UN Security Council? China and Intervention at the UN Security Council argues that status is an overlooked determinant in understanding its decisions, even in the apex cases that are shadowed by a public discourse calling for foreign-imposed regime change in Sudan, Libya, and Syria. It posits that China reconciles its status dilemma as it weighs decisions to intervene: seeking recognition from both its intervention peer groups of great powers and developing states. Understanding the impact and scope conditions of status answers why China has taken certain positions regarding intervention and how these positions were justified. Foreign policy behavior that complies with status, and related social factors like self-image and identity, means that China can select policy options bearing material costs. China and Intervention at the UN Security Council offers a rich study of Chinese foreign policy, going beyond works available in breadth and in depth. It draws on an extensive collection of data, including over two hundred interviews with UN officials and Chinese foreign policy elites, participant observation at UN Headquarters, and a dataset of Chinese-language analysis regarding foreign-imposed regime change and intervention. The book concludes with new perspectives on the malleability of China's core interests, insights about the application of status for cooperation and the implications of the status dilemma for rising powers.

China and Intervention at the UN Security Council

Reconciling Status

Courtney J. Fung

List of Tables
List of Graphs
List of Abbreviations
Introduction
Background
1:Historical Overview of China and Intervention at the UN Security Council
2:Chinese Discourse on Foreign-Imposed Regime Change
Theory
3:Theory and Empirical Strategy
Cases
4:Status and Intervention in Darfur, Sudan 2004 - 2008
5:Status and Intervention in Libya, 2011 - 2012
6:Status and Intervention in Syria, 2011 - 2015
7:Conclusion
Appendix: Chinese Ambassadors to the United Nations, 1971-2018
Bibliography
Index

China and Intervention at the UN Security Council

Reconciling Status

Courtney J. Fung

Author Information

Courtney J. Fung, Assistant Professor of International Relations, The University of Hong Kong

Courtney J. Fung is an Assistant Professor of International Relations at the University of Hong Kong. Her research focuses on how rising powers, like China and India, address the norms and provisions for a global security order. She was most recently a research fellow with the East Asia Institute in their Program on Peace, Governance, and Development in East Asia, and was previously a post-doctoral fellow with the now Columbia-Harvard China and the World Program, based at the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies, Harvard University. She held pre-doctoral fellowships with the International Security Program at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University, and with the Global Peace Operations Program at the Center on International Cooperation, New York University.

China and Intervention at the UN Security Council

Reconciling Status

Courtney J. Fung

Reviews and Awards

"She not only draws attention to an underappreciated motive of Chinese foreign policy, but also develops a sophisticated, and largely persuasive, theory of how and when status concerns encourage leaders to do the unexpected." - Joel Wuthnow, China Quarterly

"This is an important and timely contribution to the field of China, international peace and security and global governance studies and is essential reading for those seeking to better understand China's actions." - Champa Patel, International Affairs

"With this very fine book, Courtney Fung has established herself as the leading authority on China's policies regarding humanitarian intervention by the United Nations. Reconciling Status is essential reading for anyone interested in international humanitarian crises, the United Nations, or the implications of China's rise for world politics." - Thomas J. Christensen, Columbia University

"Carefully argued, theoretically astute and empirically rich, this book provides crucial insights into the bounded variation of China's positions at the UN Security Council on intervention. The author's contributions are many, including how social influence works to mediate Chinese interests, and how process-tracing can effectively be applied in International Relations scholarship. This book is essential reading for all those interested in China's UN behaviour." - Rosemary Foot, University of Oxford

"China's attitudes toward United Nations interventions in situations of civil war and mass atrocities have evolved from skeptical opposition to conditional support. Comparing Beijing's actions in cases involving Sudan, Libya and Syria, Courtney Fung makes a novel contribution to our understanding of Chinese foreign policy. She shows that under certain conditions, Beijing's position on such interventions with a strong undertone of regime change can be influenced by international political opinion and consideration of China's international status. This book should be on the shelves of all scholars interested in China's increasing participation in multilateral diplomacy and its quest for status recognition, which can be a source for international cooperation rather than just competition as usually assumed in the current literature." - Steve Chan, University of Colorado, Boulder