China’s Strategic Narratives on International Security Issues: Russia’s War in Ukraine and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

This paper utilizes a strategic narrative approach to grasp China’s views of contemporary international security politics. It explores Chinese international system narratives and policy-issue narratives presented in official policy documents, with reference to the cases of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and the ongoing Israeli–Palestinian conflict. In particular, this paper asks two questions: How and to what extent are Chinese strategic narratives pertaining to the ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza comparable, and what do these narratives reveal about the potential for China to play a stabilizing role amid these conflicts? The comparison of both cases reveals that there is some consistency in China’s narratives, as demonstrated by China’s aspiration to play a greater role in security. However, by attracting the discontent of unsatisfied countries and presenting China as the leader of the wider international community, Chinese official discourse is also hampered by several ambiguities and contradictions that complicate its ability to play a meaningful role as a global security provider amid contemporary crises.