The following interview is an episode of PTO Extra that was released earlier this month for PTO patrons.

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then please consider becoming a £5 supporter at patreon.com forward slash poll theory other. Pole Theory Other. Hello and welcome to politics theory other. My name is Alex Doherty and my guest today is

William Figueroa. In today's episode, we

talked about China's response to the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran and the country's role in the subsequent

peace negotiations. We chatted about whether the conflict has substantially changed Chinese

foreign policy in West Asia and whether Iran's ability to withstand the extraordinary violence of the

US and Israeli assault has changed the way China gives to its relationship with the Islamic Republic.

We also talked about whether the failings of the US military and the depletion of its weapon

stocks changes Chinese calculations regarding Taiwan. Finally, we talked about Chinese soft power and how the Iran

war has been portrayed in Chinese media. William Figueroa is Assistant Professor of History

and the Theory of International Relations at the University of Groningen. His writing has appeared in

the diplomat, Al Jazeera, Reuters and the South China Morning Post, amongst other venues.

He's currently writing a book on the history of Iran-China relations.

The last time we spoke was shortly after the 12-day war between Israel and Iran in June of last year.

And during that conversation, we talked about what the conflict revealed about China's

relationships with Iran, with the GCC states, and with Israel.

And you were pretty emphatic that China's relationship with Iran, while friendly,

is far from anything like a true alliance.

Alliance building, obviously, being something that China has long eschewed in its foreign policy.

And you argued that on the economic front, China's relationships with the Gulf monarchy and with Israel

are more important to the country than its ties with Iran.

...