#BRI
What 2021 Tells Us About the Future of China-CEE Relations
The year gone by was a tumultuous one for Europe’s relations with China, to say the least. With the Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI) put on hold, a round of sanctions imposed on China…
Voice for CHOICE #13: Examining China’s CEE Investment Aims with Ágnes Szunomár
Via the 16+1 platform, the Belt and Road, the Digital Silk Road, and more, there is no shortage of Chinese investment initiatives touching the Central and Eastern European (CEE) region. This includes infrastructure projects…
Editors’ CHOICE: Best of 2021
It has been a busy year in China-CEE relations, to say the least. Whether it be the burgeoning ties to Taiwan raising Beijing’s ire, the 17+1 platform underperforming in President Xi’s first appearance, or…
Can the EU Really Re-engage with China?
After a difficult year, Brussels appears to be attempting to mend fences with China and reestablish a dialogue. Since September, the key word in Brussels has been “re-engage”. What re-engage means and how it…
Western Sanctions on Belarus’s Potash Industry Test Beijing-Minsk Partnership
At the beginning of September, the Belarusian news outlet Nasha Niva revealed that due to Western sanctions on Belarusbank, China had not paid another tranche of credit ($103 million) for the construction of the $2 billion…
The Global Gateway Joins the Competition Against the BRI
Recently, the EU officially launched the Global Gateway strategy as a new branding for its EU-Asia connectivity programs. This happened more than two months after Ursula von der Leyen first announced the strategy during…
Major Chinese Investment in Serbia Mired By Worker Abuse Controversy
Vietnamese workers employed by the Chinese firm Linglong Tire in Serbia were living in conditions that have understandably shocked onlookers. Accommodated in old, rusty barracks, not outfitted for a chilly Balkan winter, the employees…
Voice for CHOICE #12: The 16+1 Format’s Place in China’s Foreign Policy with Jakub Jakóbowski
While it has faded from the popular discourse in recent months, the turn of the year will quickly catapult Central and Eastern European nations to another meeting with the China via the recently downsized…
Navigating the Nexus of Business and Politics in Sino-Czech Relations
With a new coalition agreement on the table, the Czech Republic is on the verge of entering a new political chapter. Despite being rarely addressed in the pre-election period, it may be anticipated that…
Hungary-China Relations: Is it Time for a Change?
This article is part of a series of articles authored by young, aspiring China scholars under the Future CHOICE initiative. In the past decade, the CEE region has often been singled out for cozy ties…
A Coal-Free Future Leaves China’s Engagement in the Balkans Uncertain
There might not be a better moment for the transformation of China’s relationship with the Western Balkans than now. With Xi Jinping’s pledge that China will no longer fund the construction of coal-fired power…
Connecting CEE and US China-Watchers on Climate Issues
The qualms about China’s impact on the local environments of CEE nations, particularly those along its flagship Belt and Road Initiative, is not confined merely to the CEE region itself. As climate issues are…