Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #IranChina

Exciting! My article for @AIS_1967 “Performative Diplomacy: Iran–Republic of China Relations, 1920–1949” has been published.

It’s OpenAccess!

Wonder what Chiang Kai-shek thought of Reza Shah?

Read on…

#iran #china #history #twitterstorians

cambridge.org/core/journals/…

So what can you expect from this article? It fill a gap in the literature by sketching a narrative of RoC-#Iran relations between 1920 and 1949, by analyzing the factors behind #Sino-Iranian cooperation and competition in the #tea and #silk trades and at the League of Nations.

What did I find? Unofficial commercial interests, including Iranian merchants in Shanghai, played a large role in driving Sino-Iranian relations. Iranian companies were well established in China and Hong Kong, mostly shipping tea. See for example this advert in an expat paper.

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#China and #Iran have agreed to expand their military ties. Of course, Fox News and the usual suspects are sounding the alarm. What does that mean, and is there anything noteworthy here?

The short version? No, not much. Here’s why…

#IranChina

english.alarabiya.net/News/middle-ea…

First, this is nothing new. Chinese military have visited Iran before. They ALREADY cooperate by holding joint military exercises and collaborating on international crime, like drug trafficking and terrorism. China also does this with Saudi Arabia and other ME countries.

They’re likely to continue to deepen these ties, but they’re not particularly strategic or significant. That’s exactly what Bagheri said they’re doing, “expand bilateral cooperation in joint military drills, exchange of strategies, training issues and other common fields”.

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The #Iran-#China deal has entered the "implementation" phase. This has triggered a new, yet not unexpected round of #Sino-#Iranian "alliance" panic.

But recent events hint at the limits of the Sino-Iranian partnership. Let's review... (a #ForeignPolicy #IranChina #thread) 1/

First, it's worth repeating that many aspects of the promised deal are overblown and exaggerated, including the fabled "$400 billion" investment. The deal was, and remains, aspirational and with no specific details. 2/

https://twitter.com/IranChinaGuy/status/1375841806823387140?s=20

thediplomat.com/2021/04/china-…

Iran may be forced to “Look East” in the wake of the U.S. withdrawal from the JCPOA, but the Chinese government continues to look in many directions at once. China has substantial relations with Saudi Arabia, Israel, and a number of other Iranian neighbors and/or rivals. 3/

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Everything You Need To Know About the 25-Year #IranChina Agreement - A #Thread

Why it's not a "big deal" and the myth of a $400 (or $500...) billion investment.

W/ articles by @JuliaGurol @yarbatman @jacoposcita @Lucille_Greer_ and @jonathandfulton

#Iran #China

Yesterday, Iran and China signed an agreement expressing a desire to increase co-operation and trade relations over the next 25 years. This deal has been hailed as a massive overhaul of Sino-Iranian relations that will see China invest $4-600 billion into the Iranian economy. 1/

Opponents have decried it as the "selling of Iran to China" and claimed it contains provisions for Chinese occupation of Iranian land and sale of islands. Iranian conservatives (and U.S pundits) see it as "America defeated". But what is the truth of the matter? 2/

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1/ In 1965, a leftist Iranian student movement in Europe declared its support for Mao Zedong's theories. The Revolutionary Organization of the Tudeh Party (Sāzmān-e Enghelābi-ye Ḥezb-e Tūdeh) would become a major faction of the student opposition.

#IranChina by @IranChinaGuy

2/ The ROTPI claimed “Comrade Mao has evolved Marxism, [and] we must solve issues from the point of view of Mao Zedong Thought." They began circulating translations of the works of Mao Zedong and other militant texts among Iranian students abroad. In pamphlets and periodicals...

3/ they extolled the virtues of andishe-ye māu se dūn (Mao Zedong Thought). They were an offshoot of the Tudeh, and bitterly opposed to its leadership. To them, the Tudeh were ineffective, disconnected from the situation in Iran, and excessively under Soviet influence.

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1/ Persian was an important admin. and religious language during the Yuan and Ming, but declined under the Qing (1644-1912).

On the rise (and fall) of Persian language use in China and the decline of traditional Sino-Iranian ties by the 20th century.

#iranchina by @IranChinaGuy

2/ During the Yuan, China and Persia were linked by Mongol rule, and Persian was one of the official administrative languages. A few Persians held important status as members of the semuren (色目人), an administrative class made up of non-Mongol, non-Chinese subjects.

3/ For example, Sayyid Ajall Shams al-Din Omar al-Bukhari, a Persian Muslim from Bukhara, was appointed by Kublai as governor of Yunnan in 1274, a fact mentioned by Marco Polo. Chinese sources record him as Sàidiǎnchì Zhānsīdīng (赛典赤·赡思丁).

(Img: Tomb in modern Yunnan)

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1/ Religion was another important link between #China and #Iran in both ancient and medieval times. This thread will briefly explore the Sino-#Iranian connection in the spread of three religions in China: #Buddhism, #Zoroastrianism, and #Islam.

#iranchina by @IranChinaGuy - B.F

2/ (Disclaimer: Each of these could be an entire topic, but as I am do this in my limited free time, I simply can't cover all three as well as I'd like. Please forgive anything left out, simplified, or overlooked. Follow me @IranChinaGuy and I will post more on each next week!)

3/ We have already discussed the Parthian origins of Buddhism in China via An Shigao. In general, Buddhism entered China via Central Asian contacts with Parthia, Kushan, and other Indian and Iranian cultures. Many of the early translators came from these areas, although...

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1/ We've discussed Persia-in-China, but what about China-in-Persia? Before the Mongols, known sources record few Chinese ppl in Iran. However, Chinese products left a distinct mark. The most famous (and imitated) was Chinese blue-and-white porcelain. #iranchina - @IranChinaGuy

2/ Chinese ceramics were an important part of a global trade network that linked China and the Middle East to the world economic system. Many of these objects were transported overland in a series of trade networks, today called the "Silk Road". In addition to land routes...

3/ ...maritime trade flourished. Middle Eastern, African, and Chinese merchants flowed back and forth between important ports along the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf, the coast of India, and the islands in the South China Sea. This has been called the "Maritime Silk Road".

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1/ As I have mentioned, the story of #IranChina relations is not always a story of economic exchange and social integration. The lives of the elite were one thing, but this thread will look at the history of Persian slaves, merchants, and pirates in China. - by @IranChinaGuy

2/ Feng Ruofang is known to historians as a pirate who once made his base at Hainan, an island off the southern tip of China. In 742, a shipwrecked monk attested to his activities. Feng "seized two or three Persian merchant ships every year, taking the cargo for himself and...

3/ ...making the crew his servants. They were kept in an area three days’ journey going from north to south and five days’ journey going from east to west, where villages eventually developed."

Slavery in China, like in much of the ancient world, was not chattel slavery, but...

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Between the 5th and 13th century, there were a number of Chinese families of Iranian descent surnamed Li who left their mark on history. Let's begin with two famous siblings: Li Xun and Li Shunxian, a brother and sister who were both accomplished poets, and more. 1/

#iranchina

2/ Li Xun (~855-930 CE) was a Chinese poet of Persian descent, and an accomplished physician. Exact details of his early life are not known, but his surname marked him by his ethnic background. Li (李) was a royal surname associated with the founders of the Tang dynasty...

3/ by adopting this royal surname, Persians found an effective way of integrating into Chinese society. Li's family emigrated from Persia around 880, settling in Chengdu, where Li built up a literary reputation despite being a non-native speaker. This was not to last, however...

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1/ Over the next few centuries, diplomatic contact between the two regions continued. The Sassanians, called "Bosi" (波斯), sent dozens of embassies to China ca. 400-500 CE. Sassanian-Tang relations were famously close, especially after the Muslim conquest of Persia.

#iranchina

2/ "The largest of these embassies...numbered several hundred persons, while even the smaller parties included over 100 members… In the course of one year anywhere from five to six to over ten parties would be sent out." (Shiji).

img: Persian envoy to China, c. 650 CE

3/ Sogdian (later Sassanian) merchants and dancers were common in major Chinese cities, especially Chang'an, the Tang capital from 618 CE. Persian musicians, art, and wine merchants were popular diversions. Large caches of Sassanian coins can be found in China from this period.

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