Panelists:
SUSANNE WEIGELIN-SCHWIEDRZIK, Lecturer of International Politics at the University of Vienna
WALTRAUT URBAN, Senior Research Associate at WIIW, IIP Advisory Board
JÜRGEN KÄHLER, University of Erlangen
VASILIS TRIGKAS, Postdoctoral Teaching Fellow, Schwarzman College, Tsinghua University
Moderation:
HANNES SWOBODA, President of the IIP and former MEP
Content:
The 13th National People's Congress was held in Beijing mid of March 11, 2021. The panelists look at its results. At the domestic level, the NPC adopted a Five-Year-Plan for National Economic and Social Development and the Long-Range Objectives through 2035. It passed a decision on adapting the electoral system of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. The panel will also ask how resilient China is against the pandemic.
On foreign policy the panelists will look at Chinas engagements in multilateral organizations (e.g. WHO, WTO), regional arrangements (like the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership and others), the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and at geopolitical dimensions and the relation with the US, Russia and the EU.
On the one hand, the panel will discuss the economic relations of the EU with China (e.g. the Comprehensive Investment Agreement and mutual trade). On the other hand, the EU imposed sanctions on a list of persons and entities for human rights abuses, including ones committed against China's Uighur minority.
The background of these diplomatic and economic measures comes with China’s increasing global political and economic strength and assertiveness. The great power competition explains President Biden’s sharp rhetoric towards China. The question remains what Europe should do in case of a military conflict.