Abstract
This chapter examines China’s activities in Central and Eastern European Countries (hereinafter referred to as ‘CEECs’), with a specific reference to the 16+1 platform, during a time of the emerging Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). In Europe, this initiative has been looked upon with suspicion and referred to as a ‘divide and conquer’ strategy, aiming to potentially disrupt the workings of the European Union. The argument presented here is that the cooperation between China and the CEECs has not been a one-sided activity. Some countries did not hide their enthusiasm for forging closer partnerships with China and embracing the China-led 16+1 platform, as well as BRI. The Czech Republic is a case in point; however, it still questions the benefits of opening up to China and what the real outcomes of promised investments domestically and in the wider region are. In response to the criticisms, the Chinese leadership has reassured the Europeans that China is acting peacefully under a win-win premise for all parties involved and that the activities within the 16+1 take in consideration the existing projects, such as China-EU cooperation and the EU infrastructure projects.
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- 1.
For a good assessment of China’s ambitions read François Godement’s ‘Expanded Ambitions: Shrinking Achievements: How China Sees the Global Order’, Policy Brief, European Council on Foreign Affairs, March 2017.
- 2.
The EU member states: Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic , Estonia, Hungary , Latvia, Lithuania, Poland , Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia. Non-EU member states: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia.
- 3.
The author attended an international workshop ‘European Perspectives on China’s New Silk Road’ at the European Economic and Social Committee of the European Parliament in Brussels on 14–15 September 2015 where some of these concerns were raised by the majority of speakers.
- 4.
Czech China experts, affiliated with the Czech Institute of East Asian Studies at the Charles university in Prague , have set up a special portal, ‘Sinopsis’, in the Czech language in response to the lack of critical assessment of the Chinese investments in the Czech Republic . They translate media reports and official statements from Chinese and other languages to provide a more balanced view of China and the interactions with the Czech Republic . See: https://sinopsis.cz/.
- 5.
The author attended the meeting between the Chinese President Xi Jinping and the Czech Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies Jan Hamáček on 29 March 2016. During this meeting President Xi mentioned the dire situation of global economy, China’s support for the EU integration, the complementarity of the Czech Republic and China and the potential of the Czech Republic —thank to its industry—to play a role in Central Europe in the context of BRI.
- 6.
This platform was jointly founded by the former Czech President Vaclav Havel, Japanese philanthropist Yosei Sasakawa and the Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Elie Wiesel in 1996. The purpose is to openly debate about democracy, civil society, cultural and ethnic tolerance, as well as human rights.
- 7.
Relevant comparative research has already been done in terms of China’s interests in investing in nuclear power and telecommunications in Scandinavia (Denmark, United Kingdom, Norway), Pakistan , Saudi Arabia or Ukraine by Yang Jiang, Aki Tonami, Adam Moe Fejerskov, DIIS Report 2016, http://pure.diis.dk/ws/files/727852/DIIS_RP_2016_8_WEB.pdf.
- 8.
The author consulted the issue with the Czech diplomatic staff in informal interviews in Prague in April 2017.
- 9.
The author verified the information about the meeting with the Czech diplomatic staff and consulted the views on the 16+1 platform in an informal interview in Prague in April 2017.
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Kizeková, A. (2018). China’s Belt and Road Initiative and the 16+1 Platform: The Case of the Czech Republic. In: Arduino, A., Gong, X. (eds) Securing the Belt and Road Initiative. Palgrave, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-7116-4_15
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