#CEE
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…
Expert Roundtable: The Impacts of China-Funded Projects in the Western Balkans
The EU future for the countries in Western Balkans has recently been challenged. This ambiguity has offered an opening to non-European actors eager to exert influence and exploit openings in the region, including China.…
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…
China Pulls the Economic Coercion Card Against Lithuania
In early December, Lithuanian companies began to sense the extent of the economic price they might pay for the diplomatic row between Vilnius and Beijing. What initially appeared as a moderate diplomatic response was…
The Sino-Lithuanian Diplomatic Standoff Escalates
One year after entering office with a promise of an ambitious values-based foreign policy, the Lithuanian government is indeed creating ripples on the global stage. Most prominently, Vilnius’ decision to leave China’s 17+1 format…
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…
High Ambitions But No Teeth in China’s Environmental Guidelines for Investing Abroad
As Chinese foreign direct investment (FDI) has increased rapidly throughout the years, so has Chinese companies’ environmental footprint around the globe. Energy, mining, and construction companies are the usual suspects, but heavy industries have…
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…
Taiwan’s Outreach to CEE and the Search for Something Sustainable
As the EU and some of its member states are increasingly willing to regard Taiwan as a partner and de-hyphenate their relations with Taiwan and China, authorities in Taipei have been equally eager to…
Why the European Parliament’s Support for Taiwan Matters
The past year has seen ties between the EU and Taiwan warm at an unprecedented speed and intensity. Still, should the two sides let momentum subside, the present window of opportunity could very easily…
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…