ABSTRACT
It appears that the days when China's cooperation with the countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) was viewed as a boon for Beijing's outreach in Europe are long gone. CEE attitudes towards China began to cool in the wake of the 2019 pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong. This trend appeared to be further reinforced by developments during the COVID-19 pandemic. Consequently, Beijing's ambiguous reaction to Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022 provided a real bifurcation point, splitting the CEE states between those ideationally committed to democracy, human rights, and the rule of law and those looking for illiberal alternatives. China has been deployed by both camps to justify their strategic choices. In this respect, the study suggests that it is the contextual localisation of China in domestic political debates – rather than what China necessarily does in the individual CEE states or globally – that informs CEE perceptions of China.
