How China sneaks in through the back door of Europe and what is happening in deep Romania, far from the eyes of Bucharest

While EU leaders and institutions try to find a pragmatic solution to the ambivalent way in which they relate to China, considered both a partner and a rival, much closer to the grassroots, cooperation with the Asian superpower is in full bloom and can easily turn into a vulnerability to European security and interests, draw the attention of European experts.

Although Romania has been, in recent years, one of the more “sino-sceptic” EU countries, things are not quite as far from Bucharest, in the territory. As Beijing is increasingly aggressive in foreign relations, the fact that various forms of collaboration with Chinese partners take place at county councils, city halls of large cities and in Romanian-Chinese county chambers of commerce, often without coordination with the authorities from Bucharest can turn against us, if we look at what is happening in the rest of Europe.

Panorama takes an x-ray of the cooperation at the local level between Romania and China, which we put in a European context, to show how we could better defend our interests in the relationship with the Asian superpower.

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