The People’s Republic of China as a ‘Pillar’ in the Foreign Policy of the Republic of Serbia during COVID-19 Pandemic

Authors

  • Przemysław Ciborek University of Lodz

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.12797/Politeja.18.2021.73.08

Keywords:

China, Russia, European Union, United States, COVID-19, Four Pillar Policy, vaccine diplomacy, mask diplomacy

Abstract

In the opinion of many researchers, Sino-Serbian bilateral relations during the COVID-19 pandemic have hit an all-time high. The People’s Republic of China was the first country to aid Serbia in the face of internal problems within the European Union. The EU’s inconsistent policy during the global health crisis has enabled political and economic rapprochement of Belgrade with Beijing and Moscow. In addition, it seems that the political influence of the United States and the European Union on the domestic and foreign policy of Serbia is weakening. Due to the specificity of Serbian media, the Chinese republic is also gaining many supporters among Serb citizens. The pro-government media coverage is supplemented by the government’s praise of the Chinese leadership. Regarding the Four Pillar Foreign Policy strategy introduced by the then President Boris Tadić, it appears that despite Serbia’s ongoing EU accession process, the People’s Republic of China appears to be the most significant ‘pillar’ in Serbia’s foreign policy during COVID-19 pandemic.In the opinion of many researchers, Sino-Serbian bilateral relations during the COVID-19 pandemic have hit an all-time high. The People’s Republic of China was the first country to aid Serbia in the face of internal problems within the European Union. The EU’s inconsistent policy during the global health crisis has enabled political and economic rapprochement of Belgrade with Beijing and Moscow. In addition, it seems that the political influence of the United States and the European Union on the domestic and foreign policy of Serbia is weakening. Due to the specificity of Serbian media, the Chinese republic is also gaining many supporters among Serb citizens. The pro-government media coverage is supplemented by the government’s praise of the Chinese leadership. Regarding the Four Pillar Foreign Policy strategy introduced by the then President Boris Tadić, it appears that despite Serbia’s ongoing EU accession process, the People’s Republic of China appears to be the most significant ‘pillar’ in Serbia’s foreign policy during COVID-19 pandemic.

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Author Biography

Przemysław Ciborek, University of Lodz

PhD candidate at the Department of East Asian Studies, Faculty of International and Political Studies of the University of Lodz. Non-resident research scholar at The Sigur Center for Asian Affairs, The George Washington University (2021). He obtained a one-year Chinese language course scholarship at Tianjin University of Science and Technology, China (2015). A former intern of the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Beijing at the Political, Consular and Agricultural Section (2015). Organizer and coordinator of Summer School Project ‘Understanding Poland, Economy, Society and Science’ for students from China (2018). Since 2016, he has served as the junior analyst at the Center for Asian Affairs of the University of Lodz. His research mainly focuses on Chinese foreign policy towards Central and Eastern Europe regarding Chinese investment policy towards Balkan Peninsula countries.

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Published

2021-11-29

How to Cite

Ciborek, Przemysław. 2021. “The People’s Republic of China As a ‘Pillar’ in the Foreign Policy of the Republic of Serbia During COVID-19 Pandemic”. Politeja 18 (4(73):145-69. https://doi.org/10.12797/Politeja.18.2021.73.08.

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