Central and Eastern Europe, China’s Core Interests, and the Limits of Relational Politics: Lessons from the Czech Republic in the 2010s

Abstract

The study examines Czech–Chinese relations in the 2010s within the theoretical framework of relationalism, through the prism of which Czech ruling and financial elites have been trying to gain economic benefits from the partnership with China. These efforts are examined on several, often overlapping, levels, including elite, national and local. On the other side of the relational spectrum, in the process of improving ties with the Czech ruling elites, Prague was selected as the center of European operations of the powerful—at least until recently—CEFC China Energy conglomerate. This nominally private company, now taken over by the state-owned CITIC, attributed its operations not only to economic benefits but also as intended to strengthen friendly relations between the two countries: that is, as part of China’s economic statecraft. Therefore, the practice and effects of the Czech efforts are examined in the relational context of Beijing’s attempts to secure the support of the Czech ruling elites for China’s core interests: Tibet, Taiwan, and (implicitly) Huawei.