China is playing defense more than offense in its international promotion of the Chinese yuan, a researcher says.Sheldon Cooper/SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty ImagesChina is pushing global use of the yuan to reduce the impact of potential Western sanctions.It aims to guard against sanctions in scenarios such as military conflict over Taiwan, a researcher says.But China's trade partners face challenges in using more yuan.China is on a drive to expand the use of the yuan internationally, but a researcher says Beijing's near-term intent is more about protecting against sanctions than currency dominance."China's strategies to develop an alternative financial system are defensive rather than offensive — at least for now," Zoe Liu, a fellow for China studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, wrote on Wednesday.Liu wrote that Beijing's goal was to minimize any impact of potential sweeping sanctions from the West in "extreme geopolitical scenarios such as a military conflict over Taiwan," which China claims as its territory.