Europe-China Table: Answering China’s Narrative Challenge to Europe

Clingendael organises the first policy roundtable within ReConnect China

On 18 April 2023, the Clingendael Institute is organizing an invitation-only, online Europe-China Table for European policymakers. It will discuss how to respond to the challenges China’s international narrative is posing to the European Union.

China has become a formidable player in the ‘global battle of narratives’, a battle that is of vital importance to geopolitical competition. Whereas China seems to be effective in selling its model and policies to many countries across the globe, in particular in the Global South, the EU is struggling to convince these countries that its liberal model has more to offer than autocratic regimes such as China. How should the EU and its member states respond to China’s narrative, and how can the EU better promote its own world view and policies?

We will answer this question with discussants Karin Mössenlechner, Director Asia & Oceania of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Dr. Chiyuki Aoi, Professor of International Security at the University of Tokyo. Ties Dams, Research Fellow at Clingendael – the Netherlands Institute of International Relations, will provide an input paper for the discussion, and the roundtable will be moderated by Dr. Ingrid d’Hooghe, Coordinator of the Clingendael China Centre.

The event will be held under the Chatham House Rule.