From a China strategy to no strategy at all - Exploring the diversity

Summary

This shift follows the burst of the Covid-19 pan- focus on demic, the closure of China for more than two years, the controversies of China’s violation damage of human rights in Xinjiang (and the subsequent exchange of sanctions), the introduction control of the National Security Law in Hong Kong, the escalations in the Taiwan Strait and ulti- mately China’s lack of condemnation of Russia’s invasio. [...] Whereas the political center unanimously recognizes the one-China policy, the Belgian extreme-right submitted a resolution in which they ask the government, besides condemning the hostilities, to recognize the island as a sovereign and independent nation.54 Preparatory legal documents indicate that the interests of the private sector are considered in the development of Belgian policy vis-à-vis Ch. [...] During his trip to Beijing on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral diplomatic ties, President Rumen Radev’s meeting with Xi Jinping resulted in the elevation of bilateral relations to the level of strategic partnership.68 Bulgaria was The upgrade to strategic partnership also came at the tail end of more China-focused the second activity on behalf of the governmen. [...] However, having the economic tradition of engaging China in mind, the Czech business lobbies never gave up the chance for tapping the huge Chinese market as the additional export space beyond the European common market.81 Since the fall of the communist regime, the predominantly economically oriented Czech polity has adopted more ideologically-, critically- and human rights-oriented views. [...] Since the entry of the Czech Re- public into the EU, there have been few efforts to shape the Chinese agenda, the most active policy of which would have been prior to the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, when Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg, during a bilateral visit to France – the then presiding state of the European Council, lobbied for boycotting the Olympic ceremony in 2008.