China tries to get back into the Euro game after ‘yellow card’ for its cooperation platform

Observers expect Beijing to alter its approach after Lithuania left the ‘divisive’ 17+1 grouping for Central and Eastern European countries

Despite complaints that the promised benefits have not materialised, other members are expected to wait to see how China responds to the setback

Reading Time:3 minutes

99+

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi with his Hungarian counterpart Peter Szijjarto last weekend. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 11:00pm, 6 Jun 2021Updated: 8:52am, 7 Jun 2021

China is expected to adjust its approach towards Europe in an effort to keep its “17+1” platform for engaging with central and eastern European countries on track after one member quit.

Lithuania recently announced its effective withdrawal from the “divisive” body, adding it had not produced the benefits it had expected.

Last weekend Beijing tried to bolster support on the continent by inviting three foreign ministers from 17 +1 countries – Hungary, Poland and Serbia – to China, along with their Irish counterpart.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told his visitors that “calm reflections” about the current difficulties were needed.

“The departure of Lithuania is a big yellow card for the [17+1] framework, but it is unlikely to be a red one just yet,” Grzegorz Stec, an analyst at the Mercator Institute for China Studies in Berlin, said.

Stec said a chain reaction from the other 16 nations was unlikely, but they would wait to see how Beijing handled Lithuania’s departure and whether it could offer a more attractive proposition.