CHERN is organizing another joint working group conference, this year in Amsterdam on 7 and 8 Sept, hosted by Vrije Universiteit. The programme consists of a series of roundtables, keynotes and intensive workshops and networking opportunities organized by the CHERN Working Groups. The topic of the event is: China-Europe: Reconnecting in an Era of Competition and Rivalry?
Looking forward to meeting you in Amsterdam this fall!
Read the latest updates to the programme on this page below
For rooms and directions, download the programme booklet
The call for participation is closed
WG1: Rising power, limited influence: Global China and the Liberal International Order
WG1: Chinese investment in Europe, The Environmental cost of investment
WG2: Green and Digital Transitions: Opportunities and Challenges for Europe and China
WG4: China Research in the Media
WG4: Evidence and Controversies around China’s Political Presence in Europe
Programme CHERN Joint WG Conference Amsterdam, VU 7-8 September 2023
China-Europe: Reconnecting in an Era of Competition and Rivalry?
September 7, 2023
08:15-09:00
CHERN Policy Outreach Breakfast meeting (hybrid): Diplomatic and economic de-risking – a promising new China strategy of the European Union?
The European Commission has issued a new Economic Security Strategy to facilitate the discussion on de-risking from China. In parallel, the European External Action Service is reviewing the EU’s strategic outlook. These changes are still I the making and even the Economic Security Strategy is explicitly meant to be a conversation opener. We will discuss these adjustments and its pitfalls.
Moderator: Tim Rühlig (DGAP)
Speakers: Justyna Szczudlik, Deputy-head of Research, Polish Institute of International Affairs, Noah Barkin (Rhodium Group/Marshall Fund), Nicoletta Pusteria (China Division, European External Action Service)
09:00-09:30
Registration and coffee
09:30-09:45
Opening words - CHERN, Nana de Graaff
09:45-10:00
Welcome by Dean of VU Faculty of Social Sciences Gregor Halff
10:00-11:15
Roundtable I – Global China and ‘the West’: Europe Reconnecting or heading for a Second Cold War?
This first RT of the conference will engage with the following questions: What are the chances that, encouraged by the US, Europe will soon be part of a second Cold War with China? Or will Europe foreground its own distinctive geo-economic and geo-political interests and forge a third way between China and the US? Whatever the strategy, what national divergences might arise within Europe and what might their consequences be?
Moderators: Nicholas Jepson (University of Manchester) & Jeffrey Henderson (University of Bristol)
Speakers: Philippe le Corre (Asia Society Policy Institute), Francesca Ghiretti (MERICS) (tbc), Jewellord Nem Singh (International Institute of Social Studies)
11:15-11:45
Networking coffee/tea break
11:45-13.00
Roundtable II – Challenges to Sino-European Research Collaboration in an Era of Competition and Rivalry
Against the background of rising competition and rivalry this RT will address questions such as: What are the options for research collaboration amid rising geopolitical tensions? If “de-risking” is expected, what should it look like? How can researchers be supported?
Moderator: Agota Revesz (GFZ Potsdam)
Speakers: Klaus Mühlhahn (Zeppelin University), Cai Yuzhuo (Tampere University), Ingrid d’Hooghe (Clingendael China Centre)
13:00-14:00
Lunch
14:00-16:00
Parallel Working Group Workshops I
WG1: Rising power, limited influence: Global China and the Liberal International Order
China’s resurgence has spawned anxieties about an impending revision of the Liberal International Order. How do Chinese investments in Europe enable it to translate its growing resources into effective influence on the world order? This workshop draws on the findings of an exciting new edited book titled Rising power, limited influence, forthcoming with Oxford University Press. The book is the result of a collaborative project that examines the implications of China’s investments in Europe on the Liberal International Order. Its contributors argue that influence is most effectively achieved by harnessing the agency of states and societies in Europe towards China’s preferences.
Building on the findings of this book, the workshop synthesizes the work on Chinese OFDI in Europe with an attention to the following topics:
- The intended and unintended social, political, economic and cultural consequences of Chinese investments in Europe;
- The dynamic interaction between states and societies in Europe with the state and society in China that help explain the consequences of Chinese investments in Europe; and
- Formulate research agendas forward to consider the changing role of investments originating in China and other global South actors on the global order.
Digital copies of the book will be made available to workshop participants.
Chair:
Indrajit Roy (University of York)
Speakers:
Agnes Szunomar (IWE Centre for Economic and Regional Studies, Hungary), Małgorzata (Gosia) Jakimów (Durham University), Jappe Eckhardt (University of York), Simona Davidescu (University of York)
WG2: Green and Digital Transitions: Opportunities and Challenges for Europe and China
The green and digital transformations have the potential of making countries more resilient and sustainable, while at the same time opening new business opportunities for companies. Nevertheless, there is still not enough overlap in the policy arena of environmental sustainability and digitalization. The urgency of better understanding the interactions between the green and digital transitions is clearly indicated in the 14th Five-Year Plan highlighting high-quality green development and emphasizes innovation as the core of modern development, also stressing that China is entering a new phase of accelerated digitized development.
Against this backdrop, the section aims at investigating the following topics:
- Chinese and European initiatives to support the green and the digital transitions
- How the knowledge base of green digital technologies develops in the EU and in China
- Existing knowledge in green and digital technologies in the EU countries and in China
- Main policy programs adopted to strengthen the knowledge base in the two areas.
Moderator:
Agnieszka McCaleb (SGH Warsaw School of Economics)
Speakers:
Joel Christoph (European University Institute), Valeria Fappani (University of Trento), Hermann Aubié (University of Turku), Outi Luova (University of Turku), Danijela Stojanovic (Institute of Economic Sciences), Blanca Marabini San Martín (Madrid Autonomous University), Filip de Beule (KU Leuven University), Roberta Rabellotti (University of Pavia), John Seaman (IFRI)
WG3: China-Europe competition and collaboration in global finance I: Governance, modalities and infrastructures
The global financial landscape of the 2020s has been turbulent so far, with rising interest rates in many parts of the world, prominent bank collapses, an emerging market debt crisis and the use of financial sanctions against Russia. Much of this upheaval is linked to broader economic and political shifts in the post-pandemic world, with global financial flows and networks appearing to take on an increasingly geopolitical inflection. This workshop will explore the positions of European and Chinese actors within this shifting terrain, both in terms of how they directly relate to one another and their interactions on the wider world stage. Subjects may include China and the EU at global financial governance fora (e.g. the World Bank, IMF and G20), shifting state-finance relationships, ownership structures and modalities, Chinese and European approaches to development finance, and possible financial fragmentation and deglobalisation. Speakers will be invited to briefly introduce their research and raise what they see as key questions around the topic. These questions then forming the basis of a broader group discussion aimed at identifying new research agendas.
Convenor:
Nicholas Jepson (University of Manchester)
Speakers:
Paolo Balmas (Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research), Adam Dixon (Heriot-Watt University), Maximilian Rech (SKEMA Business School Paris), Samuel Rogers (Open University), John Ryan (CESIFO University of Munich), Linda Szabó (Periféria Center, Budapest), Markus Taube (University of Duisburg-Essen), Jörn-Carsten Gottwald (Ruhr University Bochum)
WG4: China Research in the Media
There is almost an overload of China news in the media. Yet, the information is most often superficial and lacking diversity. Now that we are reshaping our relations to China it would be essential to provide access for the public to knowledge produced by researchers working on China. The workshop is focusing on the question: How can we channel this knowledge into the media? As this is a question that cannot be answered within a span of two hours, the workshop functions as preparation for a bigger event in February 2024 on the same topic, where together with journalists we hope to come up with workable formats.
Convenor:
Agota Revesz (GFZ Potsdam)
Speakers:
Angela Phillips (Goldsmiths, University of London), Marc Engelhardt (CrowdNewsroom Schweiz), Margot Schüller (GIGA, Hamburg)
WG5: Workshop Migration & Technology I
This interdisciplinary workshop explores the still little-understood, complex interlinkages of technology and migration in relation to China in Europe. Looking at both analogue and digital technologies, this workshop asks how migration and migrants are shaped by technologies and how migrants employ and shape technologies. Among other things, the workshop discusses how technologies enable, inhibit, transform, and postpone migration; how technologies spur the imaginations and plans of future migrants; how technologies facilitate remote work abroad while staying at home; how technologies connect migrants and non-migrants; how technologies shape migrants’ bodies and become embodied; how migrants and those who stay use technologies to maintain social relationships; and how technologies and related knowledge and skills migrate alongside migrants.
Convenor:
Lena Kaufmann (University of Zurich)
Speakers:
Aly Amer (University of Amsterdam), Nellie Chu (Duke Kunshan University), Sofia Gaspar (CIES-Iscte, Portugal), Yanbo Hao (Independent Researcher), Yuelu He (University of Barcelona), Christina Kefala (University of Amsterdam), Maggi W.H. Leung (University of Amsterdam), Ralph Litzinger (Duke University) (tbc), Jiaqi Liu (Princeton University & Singapore Management University), Tong Meng (Durham University), Himadree Sonowal (Jawaharlal Nehru University) (tbc), Alex (Yanglu) Wang (Queen’s University Belfast), Yiwen Wang (University of Amsterdam)
Discussants: tba
16:00-16:30
Networking coffee/tea break
16:30-17:45
Keynote: European Narratives on China - Desiring Simplicity, Acknowledging Complexity
Keynote speaker: Kerry Brown, Professor of Chinese Studies, Director of the Lau China Institute (Kings College London)
Moderator: Jelena Gledić (University of Belgrade)
19:30-22:00
Conference Dinner
September 8, 2023
08:15-09:00
CHERN Policy Outreach Breakfast meeting (hybrid): Europe’s digital sovereignty from China – how to define a proactive instead of a reactive policy agenda?
Reducing strategic technology dependencies and tackling areas of European weakness has been a common theme of discussion in the European policy community in recent years. The EU’s goal is to maintain the freedom to act not to decouple from China. However, only reducing dependencies will not be enough to reach this goal. Instead, Europe needs to remain technologically indispensable for China. We will discuss on to achieve this objective.
Moderator: Tim Rühlig (DGAP)
Speakers: Alejandro Cainzos, Member of Cabinet of Commissioner Margaret Vestager, European Commission, Jan-Peter Kleinhans, Director Technology and Geopolitics, Stiftung Neue Verantwortung, Rogier Creemers, Lecturer in Modern Chinese Studies, Leiden University
09:00-09:30
Registration and coffee
09:30-10:45
Roundtable III – Chinese Civil Society in Europe
Participants, representing recently founded civil society organisations, will discuss the changing scene of grassroots civil society among Chinese immigrants in Europe active in fields from local political participation to human rights.
Moderators: Meng Chang (VU Amsterdam), Nyíri Pál (VU Amsterdam)
Speakers: Chen Qiuyan (Pan-European Rainbow Chinese, Great Britain); Shih-Ping Jwo (Stiftung Blaues Haus, Germany); Michael Y. Liu (Helan Digest, Netherlands); Yang Jiayu (706 Berlin, Germany); Mandi (VaChina, Great Britain); Apple (China Deviants, Great Britain)
10:45-11:15
Networking coffee/tea break
11:15-12:30
Roundtable IV – Horizon Europe Consortia knowledge networks on China
This RT showcases the research agendas of the recently installed Horizon Europe consortia Dealing with a Resurgent China (DWARC) and ReConnect China. Reflecting with leading researchers in these consortia on challenges and opportunities ahead in upgrading China-knowledge in Europe and developing an EU China-policy.
Moderator: Nana de Graaff (VU Amsterdam)
Speakers: Mikko Huotari (MERICS), Bart Dessein (Ghent University), Astrid Pepermans (Egmont Royal Institute for International Relations), Matthias Stepan (Ruhr-Universität Bochum)
12:30-14:00
Lunch & Marketplace of Ideas
14:00-16:00
Parallel Working Group Workshops II
WG1: Chinese investment in Europe, The environmental cost of investment
While Chinese investment globally has been declining since 2016 due to domestic constraints on outbound capital flows in China and the covid 19 pandemic. However, Europe still enjoys a high level of investment in strategic sectors and infrastructure development. The environmental cost of this investment is an under-research area of EU-China relations. This panel will discuss the relationship between Chinese investment and its environmental impact discussing both domestic and international dynamics with a focus on EU-China relations.
Convenors:
Agnes Szunomar (IWE Centre for Economic and Regional Studies, Hungary), with Niall Duggan (University College Cork) (discussant) & Mark Poustie (chair) (University College Cork)
Speakers:
Kim Vender (Edinburgh University), Wen Xiang (University of Copenhagen), Louise Curran (TBS Education)
WG3: China-Europe competition and collaboration in global finance II: Decarbonisation and environmental protection
Decarbonisation of the global economy constitutes one of the most important challenges of the 21st century. This session will look at emerging Chinese and European efforts to deliver finance for the energy transition, as well as related goals such as climate adaptation, loss and damage payments, and conservation and afforestation. Subjects may include climate-related financial instruments and frameworks (e.g. green bonds, ‘debt for nature’ swaps, ESG standards), energy transition project finance (e.g. renewables, critical minerals, green infrastructure), continuing fossil fuel financing, and carbon finance and alternatives. Speakers in this session will be invited to briefly introduce their own research and introduce what they see as the key questions around the topic, which will then form the basis for a broader group discussion aimed at identifying new research agendas.
Convenor:
Nicholas Jepson (University of Manchester)
Speakers:
Julijana Angelovska (Skopje University), Silvana Bartoletto (University of Naples Parthenope), Joel Christoph (European University Institute), Giulia Dal Maso (Ca’ Foscari University of Venice), Stanislav Gubenko (University of Luxembourg), Elena Jovičić (Institute of Economic Sciences, Belgrade), Blanca Marabini San Martín (Madrid Autonomous University)
WG4: Evidence and Controversies around China’s Political Presence in Europe
There is a lot of talk about China trying to influence businesses and/or political decision-makers in Europe. Yet, there are many open questions, like what forms the attempts at influencing might take, what the scope of it is, and – from a research point of view – how we can gather knowledge about China’s political presence in Europe? The workshop is trying to assess our current state of knowledge regarding Chinese political influence and networks in Europe, and to identify areas where further research might be necessary. It will also address the difficulties researchers face when addressing a politically highly divisive topic.
Convenors:
Agota Revesz (GFZ Potsdam) & Jeffrey Henderson (Bristol University)
Speakers:
Martin Thorley (Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime), Frank Pieke (East Asian Institute, National University of Singapore), Li Xing (Aalborg University)
WG5: Workshop Migration & Technology II
This interdisciplinary workshop explores the still little-understood, complex interlinkages of technology and migration in relation to China in Europe. Looking at both analogue and digital technologies, this workshop asks how migration and migrants are shaped by technologies and how migrants employ and shape technologies. Among other things, the workshop discusses how technologies enable, inhibit, transform, and postpone migration; how technologies spur the imaginations and plans of future migrants; how technologies facilitate remote work abroad while staying at home; how technologies connect migrants and non-migrants; how technologies shape migrants’ bodies and become embodied; how migrants and those who stay use technologies to maintain social relationships; and how technologies and related knowledge and skills migrate alongside migrants.
Convenor:
Lena Kaufmann (University of Zurich)
Speakers:
Aly Amer (University of Amsterdam), Nellie Chu (Duke Kunshan University), Sofia Gaspar (CIES-Iscte, Portugal), Yanbo Hao (Independent Researcher), Yuelu He (University of Barcelona), Christina Kefala (University of Amsterdam), Maggi W.H. Leung (University of Amsterdam), Ralph Litzinger (Duke University) (tbc), Jiaqi Liu (Princeton University & Singapore Management University), Tong Meng (Durham University), Himadree Sonowal (Jawaharlal Nehru University) (tbc), Alex (Yanglu) Wang (Queen’s University Belfast), Yiwen Wang (University of Amsterdam)
Discussants: tba
16:00-16:30
Networking coffee/tea break
16:30-17:45
Roundtable Reflections: Research and Policy Take Aways on China-Europe - reconnecting in an era of competition and rivalry
In this roundtable we will reflect – together with three assigned ‘critical observers’ of the conference – on the key take aways for research networks on China in Europe. Which questions did we answer, and which new ones were raised? What could or should be the steps forward on our agenda(s)?
Moderator: Nana de Graaff (VU Amsterdam)
Speakers: Miguel Otero-Iglesias (Elcano Royal Institute/IE School of Global and Public Affairs, Madrid), Una Aleksandra BērziņaČerenkova (Riga Stradins University/Latvian Institute of International Affairs), Lynda Hardman (Utrecht University), Jeffrey Henderson (Bristol University)
