The Pandemic Of Covid-19 And Its Implication To The Sino-European Relation: Political Resilience Put To The Test.

TY - JOUR

T1 - The Pandemic Of Covid-19 And Its Implication To The Sino-European Relation: Political Resilience Put To The Test.

AU - Ota, Keiko Ferradj

N1 - © October 2022

PY - 2022/10/26

Y1 - 2022/10/26

N2 - In recent years, the growing assertiveness of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) have drastically shifted the dynamics of the Sino-European relationship. With European values weakening due to the former US Trump administration, Brexit and Ukrainian war, the EU needs PRC’s international engagement to build a resilient international political community. PRC also needs access to the European market to expand outwardly via Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to overcome the stagnation of its domestic economy. In this sensitive phase of Sino-European relations, the pandemic of Covid-19 hit the world. According to Nye and Keohane’s complex interdependence theory, the social and economic interconnectedness of the world transcends intergovernmental relationships. During the pandemic, it rather brought a negative impact and weakened political resilience. European countries began to re-examine negative effects of complex interdependence, especially with PRC. The objective of this paper is to examine if the unique phenomenon of the pandemic has altered the trajectory of SinoEuropean relations. This literature is significant as there has been a lack of scholars in the Social Sciences exploring Sino-European relations specifically from an angle of the Covid-19 pandemic. Actors in question include PRC, the EU and EU member state governments, ambassadors, State Owned Enterprises (SOEs), and private firms. There is no clear theory on how actors react to pandemics in the complex interdependent modern era. Hence, I take an inductive approach by gathering relevant evidence. The main conclusion and implications of this literature are that the actual data shows a decline of Chinese FDIs (Foreign Direct Investments) in Europe after the pandemic. However, the EU increasingly recognizes PRC as a systematic rival and involved parties are raising concern on PRC’s influence over Europe.

AB - In recent years, the growing assertiveness of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) have drastically shifted the dynamics of the Sino-European relationship. With European values weakening due to the former US Trump administration, Brexit and Ukrainian war, the EU needs PRC’s international engagement to build a resilient international political community. PRC also needs access to the European market to expand outwardly via Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to overcome the stagnation of its domestic economy. In this sensitive phase of Sino-European relations, the pandemic of Covid-19 hit the world. According to Nye and Keohane’s complex interdependence theory, the social and economic interconnectedness of the world transcends intergovernmental relationships. During the pandemic, it rather brought a negative impact and weakened political resilience. European countries began to re-examine negative effects of complex interdependence, especially with PRC. The objective of this paper is to examine if the unique phenomenon of the pandemic has altered the trajectory of SinoEuropean relations. This literature is significant as there has been a lack of scholars in the Social Sciences exploring Sino-European relations specifically from an angle of the Covid-19 pandemic. Actors in question include PRC, the EU and EU member state governments, ambassadors, State Owned Enterprises (SOEs), and private firms. There is no clear theory on how actors react to pandemics in the complex interdependent modern era. Hence, I take an inductive approach by gathering relevant evidence. The main conclusion and implications of this literature are that the actual data shows a decline of Chinese FDIs (Foreign Direct Investments) in Europe after the pandemic. However, the EU increasingly recognizes PRC as a systematic rival and involved parties are raising concern on PRC’s influence over Europe.

UR - https://sentiojournal.uk/issues/issue-4-resilience/

M3 - Article

JO - Sentino Journal, ISSUE 4 Resilience

JF - Sentino Journal, ISSUE 4 Resilience

IS - 4

ER -