China’s leader Xi Jinping raised his country’s relationship with EU and NATO member Hungary to a level that puts Hungary almost as close to Beijing’s chest as Russia and North Korea are.

Western Europe long regarded the ’new’ EU member states in the East as Trojan horses. But views on, and relations with, China have grown very diverse in Central and Eastern Europe. Especially in the Baltics, the Czech Republic and, increasingly, Poland, China is looked at with suspicion, given its support of Russia’s war in Ukraine and Beijing's failed attempt over the past decade to reel them in through the now defunct 17+1 grouping.

A week after Xi’s visit to Hungary, Serbia, and France, and ahead of June’s European Parliament elections, we speak with Alicja Bachulska, policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations on how the experiences Central and Eastern European countries have dealing with China can contribute to a stronger European China policy.

Alicja co-authored The Missing Pieces? How CEE Can Contribute To A Stronger European Approach To China, a research paper published in April 2024. The full report is available on the website of CHOICE, China Observers in Central and Eastern Europe.

Also in April, the Asia Society Policy Institute published a report on the experience Lithuania had dealing with economic coercion coming from China. That’s available here.

STATE OF ASIA brings you engaging conversations with leading minds on the issues that shape Asia and affect us all.
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STATE OF ASIA is a podcast from Asia Society Switzerland.
Season 6, episode 4 - Published: May 14, 2024
Host/Producer: Remko Tanis, Programs and Editorial Manager, Asia Society Switzerland

China and Eastern Europe, with Alicja Bachulska