Context:
The 2019 ‘EU-China – A strategic outlook’ defines China as ‘a partner, a competitor, and a systemic rival’ all at once. This phrasing reflects the deeper question of how the EU should position itself vis-à-vis China, a country that has not only become the world’s second largest economy, but of which the scientific, technological, and geopolitical clout has increased dramatically as well, and, as such reflect “its ambitions to become a leading global power”. Within the contemporary changes on the world scene, it is important for the EU to carve out a “fair, balanced and mutually beneficial course” vis-à-vis China. ReConnect China supports the EU in carving out this course. The research question that is central to this project is the question in which domains EU collaboration with China is desirable, possible, or impossible. For the EU to realize the 10 action points in its strategic outlook toward China, ReConnect China focuses on four key fields: Science & Technology, Economy & Trade, China’s Domestic Governance, and China’s Foreign Policy.
ReConnect China acknowledges that China to a certain extent remains terra incognita for many EU policy makers, businesses, educators, students, and the public. This aura of impenetrability on the one hand stems from the lack of knowledge of, interest in and sufficient access to sources of independent information. This, however, is a crucial prerequisite for establishing autonomous knowledge. One source of independent information on China are research visits by scholars and journalists. Due to COVID-19 and China’s stricter approach to information management, however, collecting information in China has become significantly more difficult for these groups. Publicly available information, including policy documents, political announcements, laws and regulations, newspapers, and social media posts, constitutes another source. Unfortunately, their potential remains largely untapped. On the other hand, the many global narratives that shape the political and public imagination of China, complicate any effort to determine how contemporary China may compare to and interact with European interests and values and to identify possible areas of mutually beneficial cooperation. China’s narrative of a ‘harmonious world of common destiny’ accompanies the new role that it is assuming for itself on the world stage. Conversely, the particularly US-commanded approach to ‘China as a threat’ has been shaped as a counter-narrative.
Overall objectives
Under these circumstances, it is important for the EU to develop its own narrative, i.e. a narrative that suits its own needs and strengths. Ultimately, the EU must develop a proper up-to-date and state-of-the-art policy vis-à-vis China as a new global actor. Only autonomous and independent knowledge about China has the capacity to serve as a necessary basis for developing such an EU-China policy. ReConnect China, therefore, aims to upgrade independent knowledge on contemporary China in Europe, utilizing cutting-edge technology in natural language processing, artificial intelligence, and machine translation. It draws on publicly available online content to create a database, encompassing laws and regulations, official pronouncements, news items, government-operated social media accounts, and social media discourses. This unique repository is consistently updated in real time, providing day-to-day insights into policies, narratives, and public discourses. It enhances the European capacity to bring forward coherent and fact-based policymaking.
