EVERLASTING UNSETTLED SINO-EUROPEAN RELATIONS: IS THE `16+1` INITIATIVE MUTUAL BENEFIT OR POINT OF DIVERGENCE?

STEKIĆ Nenad (Nenad Stekić, Research Assistant, Institute of International Politics and Economics, Belgrade), nenad.stekic@diplomacy.bg.ac.rs

The paper investigates to what extent the Chinese geopolitical position is prone to change in the 21st century, in the context of its policy towards the EU and especially sub-initiatives such as the “16+1”. To address this issue, the Hegemonic Stability Theory (HST) postulates developed by Charles P. Kindleberger will be employed. Besides its wide application within IR research, this theory is fruitful as it presents a solid basis for exact indicators which can be established and compared. While the first two premises according to which China is the world’s benevolent leader are not questioned (large and growing economy as well as being political and military power), there is the third one according to which a hegemon must commit to the system, which needs to be perceived as mutually beneficial for other great powers and important state-actors. The “16+1” initiative will serve as a case study and will demonstrate that China’s foreign policy is far from being only a middle range power. The author starts with testing the first two postulates of the theory on Chinese economic presence in the Central and Eastern Europe space, followed by China’s commitment to the international system in which the “16+1” initiative will be analyzed as a challenging factor for its relations with the EU. This paper points out the Sino-European cooperation model which presents the basis for creating the EU’s attitude towards this and recent similar Chinese initiatives.

Keywords: China, the European Union, economic relations, hegemonic stability theory, 16+1 initiative, investments