https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5358-9267
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Abstract
Since China launched the 16 + 1 forum for meetings with Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries in 2012, European observers have struggled to understand the Chinese approach. In contrast to its oft-repeated claim of ‘win–win’ cooperation, some believe China is pursuing an assertive strategy of ‘divide and conquer’ designed to benefit China at Europe’s expense. China’s economic diplomacy in CEE is examined through the critical lens of Holslag’s ‘offensive mercantilism’ framework, finding it useful for assessing empirical aspects of China’s approach to CEE, but failing to find evidence for the assertion that China’s economic diplomacy is divisive and bad for Europe.
Notes
1 The 11 CEE countries that are EU member states are: Poland; the Czech Republic; Hungary; Slovakia; Slovenia; Croatia; Romania; Bulgaria; Estonia; Latvia; and Lithuania. The five CEE nations that are not EU member states are: Serbia; Albania; North Macedonia; Bosnia & Herzegovina; and Montenegro.
2 ‘Czechs Roll Out Red Carpet for First Visit by Chinese President’, Reuters, 28 March 2016, available at: http://www.reuters.com/article/czech-china/czechs-roll-out-red-carpet-for-first-visit-by-chinese-president-idUSL5N16P5JC, accessed 23 October 2017.
3 ‘Quantity of Articles on China in Relation to Politics or Economics Published in the Czech Republic Across the Period’, ChinfluenCE, 2017, available at: http://www.chinfluence.eu/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/03_Quantity-of-articles-on-China-in-relation-to-politics-or-economics-published-in-the-Czech-Republic-across-the-period.pdf, accessed 20 February 2018.
4 See for instance Menzelová (Citation2016) and Hála (Citation2017).
5 Two key documents outlining the Chinese government’s vision for the BRI are the following: Vision and Actions on Jointly Building Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road, 28 March 2015, issued by the National Development and Reform Commission, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China, with State Council authorisation, available at: http://en.ndrc.gov.cn/newsrelease/201503/t20150330_669367.html, accessed 4 July 2019; and ‘Full Text: Xi Jinping’s Keynote Speech at the World Economic Forum’, State Council Information Office of the People’s Republic of China, 6 April 2017, available at: http://www.china.org.cn/node_7247529/content_40569136.htm, accessed 4 July 2019.
6 See also Mearsheimer’s (Citation2001) theory of ‘offensive realism’.
7 See also Callahan (Citation2011).
8 See Pu (Citation2017), Liu and Liu (Citation2017), Mao (Citation2017), Qi (Citation2017).
9 China’s Military Strategy, State Council of the People’s Republic of China White Paper, 27 May 2015, available at: http://english.gov.cn/archive/white_paper/2015/05/27/content_281475115610833.htm, accessed 16 April 2018.
10 See Holslag (Citation2017) for a detailed listing of the Chinese documents utilised in the creation of the offensive mercantilism hypothesis.
11 For up-to-date analysis of the mercantilism debate, see Magnusson (Citation2015) or the introductory chapter in Stern and Wennerlind (Citation2014).
12 ‘China Launches $11 Billion Fund for Central, Eastern Europe’, Reuters, 6 November 2016, available at: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-eastern-europe-fund-idUSKBN13105N, accessed 9 October 2017.
13 ‘Czech J&T and China’s CITIC Reach Deal in CEFC Debt Dispute’, Reuters, 25 May 2018, available at: https://www.reuters.com/article/china-cefc-czech/czech-jt-and-chinas-citic-reach-deal-in-cefc-debt-dispute-idUSL5N1SW1EA, accessed 22 February 2019.
14 Indeed, the motivation for buying them remains somewhat opaque despite dogged probing by some Czech journalists, in particular Kateřina Menzelová from Lidové noviny.
15 ‘Czechs Roll Out Red Carpet for First Visit by Chinese President’, Reuters, 28 March 2016, available at: http://www.reuters.com/article/czech-china/czechs-roll-out-red-carpet-for-first-visit-by-chinese-president-idUSL5N16P5JC, accessed 23 October 2017.
16 ‘China to Finance Logistic Hub in Bulgaria’s Port of Burgas-asso’, SeeNews, 6 May 2016, available at: https://seenews.com/news/china-to-finance-logistic-hub-in-bulgarias-port-of-burgas-asso-523951, accessed 23 October 2017.
17 ‘Montenegro, China’s Exim Bank Agree $1 Billion Highway Deal’, Reuters, 30 October 2014, available at: http://www.reuters.com/article/montenegro-highway-idUSL5N0SP4BI20141030, accessed 16 October 2017.
18 ‘Chinese Investors Show Increasing Interest in Albania: Official’, China Daily, 12 April 2017, available at: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/business/2017-04/12/content_28892777.htm, accessed 17 October 2017.
19 ‘China Everbright Group Buys Albanian Airport Operator’, Reuters, 7 October 2016, available at: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-albania-everbright/china-everbright-group-buys-albanian-airport-operator-idUSKCN1271ZE, accessed 29 October 2017.
20 For a discussion of the legal issues involved in various actors’ approaches to granting China MES, see Puccio (Citation2015).
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Jeremy Garlick
Jeremy Garlick, Jan Masaryk Centre for International Studies, University of Economics Prague, Winston Churchill Sq. 4, 130 67 Prague, Czech Republic. Email: [email protected]
