China Observers

The podcast is also available on Google Podcasts, Breaker, PocketCasts, and Soundcloud. As both the EU-China CAI 17+1 summit begin to fade from view and more challenges yet emerge for China and their relations with both the EU and CEE nations, the Voice for CHOICE  podcast is picking up on one of China's evermore present promises in such high-profile meetings and agreements in 2021, that of climate cooperation It is a topic rife with contradictions both in China's domestic actions and its initiatives abroad, such as the BRI in CEE nations. However, as China is the world's most populous nation and its largest polluter in absolute terms, it is a topic that affects us all and is thus worthy of keen attention. Make the right CHOICE and tune in! This month’s show features analysis from: Isabel Hilton,  Founder and Senior advisor to China Dialogue, an independent organisation aimed at understanding and analyzing of China’s environmental challenges. Show Notes: Room for improvement on environment and labour provisions in the draft Comprehensive Agreement on Investment-China Dialogue China's Latest Five Year Plan Addresses Climate Change...But Is It Enough? Empty Shell No More, CHOICE's groundbreaking paper on 17+1 Full text of Xi Jinping's 17+1 Keynote Speech This podcast is hosted by Kevin Curran

As the 17+1 virtual summit approaches, Voice for CHOICE analyzes the role of the Baltic nations and their role in the EU-China dialogue, the role that remains for Russia in influencing the region's actions on this front, and the strong Transatlantic links that undergird the nation's security and often its policy stances. Of course, the region itself is home to diverse populations with varying stances on China issues and their own complex relationships with Beijing. Therefore, a closer look at the shades of gray that color Sino-Baltic relations will surely be addressed. Make the right CHOICE and tune in! This month’s show features analysis from: Dr. Una Aleksandra Bērziņa-Čerenkova: Head of Riga Stradins University China Studies Centre and Head of the New Silk Road programme at the Latvian Institute of International Affairs. Show Notes: Outgoing Estonian government skeptical about participation in China's 17+1 initiative Latvian EU Commissioner Comments on Comprehensive Agreement on Investment with China Prospects for Huawei in Baltics Examined in New Research Report Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis voices concerns over close cooperation between China and Russia.

Discussing European opinions of China in the age of COVID-19.

Filip Šebok, an analyst for the MapInfluenCE project, joins the podcast to discuss the burgeoning threat of dis and misinformation in Central and Eastern Europe, especially that related to the COVID-19 pandemic.  MapInfluenCE is a project that focuses on China’s influence across Czechia, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia, with much of its internationally acclaimed research focused on media and undue influence on public discourse.  For all the information you need on disinformation, make the right choice and tune into the podcast.

Czech analyst Ivana Karaskova comments on the fallout from Czech Senate President Milos Vystrčil's recent trip to Taiwan and what the development of Sino-Czech relations can tell us about the future of Sino-European ties.

Robert Daly, Director of the Wilson Center’s Kissinger Institute on China and the United States, joins the podcast to discuss the looming US election and its potential impact on US-China policy, as well as its effects in Europe