In the Shadow of the Global Pandemic: Deepening or Shrinking Cooperation Between China and the Baltic States?

Abstract

Summary The paper addresses cooperation between China and the Baltic states and explores future scenarios of political and economic relations in the context of the global COVID-19 pandemic. The paper is divided into three major parts. The first segment outlines the Baltic perspective on China’s global and regional activities and the proposed Health Silk Road. The second part focuses on structural factors and recent development of economic cooperation between China and the Baltic states. The third part speaks of strategic and political challenges in engaging with China during the pandemic and in its aftermath. The paper provides a prognosis that co-existing trends of both deepening and shrinking cooperation will transpire in the relations between the EU and China, and specifically the Baltic states and China. Latvia’s choices, among others, will be impacted by international obligations, including the transatlantic ties.