When Does Talk Become Costly?

Chapter 3 provides the theoretical framework for the central argument of this book—that China’s sanctions rhetoric has had a palpable impact on its behaviour. It shows how the fear of incurring ‘international audience costs’ drives certain aspects of states’ foreign policy behaviour. It discusses the conditions that need to be in place for the international audience cost theory to work—i.e. the offending state needs to care about international opinion, and a rhetorical actor must be present to draw attention to the differences between an offending state’s rhetoric and behaviour. It then applies this theoretical framework to China and examines why and how international audience costs is a crucial mechanism that provides the link between China’s sanctions rhetoric and its behaviour.