The aim of this thesis is to provide an in-depth analysis on the projected nature of China's One Belt, One Road (OBOR) initiative through Chinese engagement in Eastern Europe, with a particular focus on Serbia. The current geopolitical situation provides a unique opportunity for the use of the Heartland Theory, first presented by Halford John Mackinder in 1904, which outlines and justifies state expansion across Eurasia. The main objectives of this thesis are to discuss possible outcomes for Serbia following increased Chinese investment and to provide a recommendation for a European response. Being an adjacent nation of the Heartland, a potential future member of the European Union, and currently balanced between Europe's and China's pull, Serbia has became a unique and important state to consider when assessing China's intentions in Europe. China's continued economic and political rise in recent years has allowed them to become influential in nations previously untethered to China, and has ominously begun to follow the footsteps that Mackinder had predicted a century prior. Although the theory suggests a nation's intent to rule the world, which one could argue China is pursuing, the aim of this thesis is in fact to uncover and illustrate the effects that China's potential advance to world...

China’s influence is increasing steadily in all corners of the world. One of China’s foreign policy goals is to become a technological superpower by 2025. An important part of that goal is the Digital Silk Road (DSR), a sub-project to China’s massive infrastructure project, the Belt and Road Initiative. The DSR is on one hand contributing to positive technological developments, especially in developing countries. But on the other hand, it has gotten substantial criticism for being a front for spreading China’s digital authoritarian model and for giving authoritarian regimes the tools to effectively repress citizens and violate human rights. The aim of this study is twofold. The first aim is to examine and map out how China might be promoting autocracy through the DSR, this will contribute to a deeper empirical understanding. The second aim is to give a theoretical contribution by categorizing autocracy promotion and testing the value of active and passive autocracy promotion in relation to China and the DSR. To conduct the analysis, I will draw on literature about autocracy promotion and digital authoritarianism. The existing literature is divided on whether or not China is promoting autocracy, and I will thus be arguing that technological advances, and the DSR, makes it problematic to claim that China is not engaged in autocracy promotion. Therefore, I seek to contribute to the existing literature. The results show that China is in fact involved in autocracy promotion through the different DSR projects. It also shows that China’s support, in some cases, have been crucial in providing authoritarian regimes with repressive technologies. The results also indicate that promoting autocracy might not be an outspoken goal or strategy from China, but rather an unintended consequence when trying to reach domestic political and economic goals.

This study examines the representations of identities of the Hungarian Self and the Chinese Other in the Hungarian official foreign policy discourses surrounding the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). This research paper uses Lene Hansen’s poststructuralist discourse analysis to examine how Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán represents Hungary’s identity in relation to the Chinese one since 2013 when the agreement on the BRI was signed. The study’s analysis reveals that the Hungarian Self and the Chinese Other have shared more similarities than differences since 2013. Historically, the Chinese Other has been considered radically different and threatening communist Other in relation to the democratic Hungarian Self. However, the representations of identities took a pivotal turn in the early 2010s when Hungary started to glorify China rather than despite it. Ever since then, the Chinese Other has been constituted as an equal in relation to the Hungarian Self and the differences between them have therefore not been radical. The analysis disclosed that the Other was most often described in regional terms, i.e. as the ‘’East’’ and as something that the Hungarian Self wanted to be a part of. Historically, Hungary and China have been constituted as temporally inferior in relation to the West, however, the analysis showed that the East has caught up with the West and that it is the East that will be leading in the future. Finally, by elevating the issue to a moral basis, Hungary presents itself as an ethically driven actor who has two main responsibilities; a responsibility to include the Chinese Other in European businesses and projects as well as an explicit international responsibility to defend traditional values and differences that exist between nations.

Yes / Congruent with economic stability and environmental sustainability, the ninth Sustainable Development Goal (SDG - Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure) plays a crucial role in undergirding the industrial revolution. Conversely, it is inevitably complex for underdeveloped and emerging economies to meet the ninth SDG's 2030 agenda due to a lack of sufficient financial resources and the slow adoption of technology. With China expanding its Belt and Road Initiatives (BRIs) globally, mainly few findings espouse the significant link between BRI and the ninth SDG, and its probable impact remains understudied. Hence, a considerable gap yet exists in contemporary understanding of the impact of BRI on sustainability. Therefore, we conducted an exploratory study on six different countries (Algeria, Ghana, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nigeria and Palestine) to investigate the role of the BRI in achieving the ninth SDG. Face-to-face interviews and focus group discussions were applied. This qualitative data collection technique involved 26 participants representing industry experts and academic researchers. All interviews were recorded, transcribed, translated and thematically analysed. The result showed a significant progressive impact of BRI on the ninth SDG, and that the development of sustainable infrastructure is a key antecedent of the BRI policy enforcement in the six countries explored. The result also showed positive and negative spillover effects of BRI projects in the six countries. Government and Policymakers should design and enforce pro-growth and sustainable strategies to facilitate continuous implementation of policies that would align the execution of the BRI projects to bolster achievement of the ninth SDG.

This essay consists of a case study which examines China’s Belt and Road Initiative from two theoretical perspectives: realism and liberalism. The essay aims to enhance the comprehension of the Belt and Road Initiative by providing a realistic as well as a liberal interpretation of the project, and then comparing them to point out similarities and differences between these views. The essay concludes that the theoretical perspectives here work complementary rather than contradictory, and that what is hard to explain with one theory, often can be explained by the other. A liberal perspective sees more opportunities with the project, whereas a realistic one sees more risks but also necessities. The important aspects of the project from a liberal perspective concludes to be increased trade, international cooperation and interdependence, which are considered as risks from a realistic perspective. The main advantage is to increase power and security and legitimize the rule of the Chinese communist party, realistically speaking. Realism and liberalism interpret the goal with the project differently as well. Whereas realism sees BRI as a bold foreign policy project which aims to help China gain power to become a superpower and defeat poverty in China, liberalism view BRI as a foreign policy infrastructure project, built on trade, international cooperation and linking the world together.

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In the context of Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, this paper provides a comparative analysis of China's neocolonialism and smart power strategies through the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The study analyzes the economic, political, and social consequences of China's growing presence in these nations and offers a deeper comprehension of their position in the region by drawing on a wide range of theoretical frameworks and empirical evidence. The research starts out by examining the idea of neocolonialism and how it relates to China's involvement in the area. It explores into a critical analysis of China's debt-trap diplomacy, which raised concerns regarding the BRI projects' long-term economic viability and political influence. The paper also looks into how China uses smart power as a strategic tool to expand its influence in the region, emphasizing on smart power programs, economic development, and cultural diplomacy.

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習近平出身紅二代，不同於前幾代中國大陸領導人以傳統意識形態路線為施政主軸，習近平卻提出了訴諸情感的「中國夢」。 既稱之為夢，即有無限想像空間，難加以具體化。而「中國夢」的戰略觀構想，不僅為主導與型塑著習近平時代中共的對外政策、戰略規劃與全球佈局。當前，「中國夢」的內涵伴隨著情勢發展和現實需要不斷的擴充，不僅積極應處周邊關係，穩定亞太地區、妥善處理海權爭議、牽制美國亞太「再平衡」戰略，並向西推進「一帶一路」戰略。 「一帶一路」不僅是彰顯習近平中國特色的大國外交理念，也創新發展中國外交思想和國際戰略，使對外工作具有鮮明的中國特色、中國風格、中國氣派，更推進中國新一輪對外開放並與沿線國家合作共贏的外交方略。 因此，從習近平擘劃的「中國夢」藍圖下，透由「一帶一路」戰略構想，開創對外政經合作的新格局，將成為習近平「中國夢」的歷史定位。

University of Macau / Faculty of Social Sciences. / Department of Government and Public Administration