Dragana D. Mitrović
PANDEMIC’S EFFECTS ON CHINA’S FOREIGN POLICY AND ITS GLOBAL POWER ROLE
In this paper, we assume that China, like other major powers, does not change its strategic views and behaviour hastily, even being affected by powerful exterior influence like the Covid-19 pandemic. On the other hand, such significant global events could speed up or deepen ongoing trends and changes in major power relations, the global system, and China's place in it. Accordingly, changes in China’s foreign policy, as the most direct tool of realising its external goals, but primarily being a reflexion of its internal political dynamics and needs for domestic security and stability, should not be affected differently. Although assuming that there have not been and will be no change to China's foreign policy's main course and medium-term goals, we study the possible catalysing effect of the pandemic and eventual changes it caused. Our analyses will try to identify and examine these changes and continuities and prove our initial assumptions.
China in the Western East – and Beyond: Politics and Economics of the China Plus Sixteen Cooperation Framework
World economic crisis has focused, intensified and notably eased realization of huge Chinese interests in Europe and European Union. On the other side, it has significantly influenced change of the EU’s attitude towards China, which suddenly for some has become appreciated big investor, and even saviour of the EMU through purchasing the EFSF bonds, as well as Union’s economy on the whole. For the others, she remained a threatening imposer. Important alarming point of such attitude change supporting the later position has been reviving of the economic cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European countries thru “China plus Sixteen” framework. For Chinese and crisis stricken countries in Central and Easter Europe it was more promising and matching interest cooperation between investments and technology hungry CEE countries and China in global dispersing asset-acquisition process. Long history and tradition in cooperation since the very birth of the People’s Republic and absence of political preconditioning only supported the issue.
