WORKSHOP & CONFERENCES
China´s Belt and Road Initiative - Conference
Date & Time
March 20-21, 2019
Location
Palacký University, Křížkovského 12, Olomouc, Czech Republic, Auditorium of Václav Havel
Abstract
The main aim of this two-day conference is to compare the economic and strategic impacts of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), introduced in 2013, on three different regions: Central Eastern Europe, Central and Southeast Asia. By comparing the Chinese strategies to promote and implement the BRI in these regions, similarities and distinctions of Beijing’s BRI strategy towards different world regions will be highlighted. Based on the assessment of successful as well as failed projects on regional and local level, it will be demonstrated which concrete economic, social and political impacts the BRI investments have in the three regions. Applying regional and country case studies, it will be examined in which infrastructure sectors Chinese aid and loans are particularly high and Chinese companies invest most and how they cooperate with local companies. In this context it will be discussed whether the BRI offers mutual benefits or if Chinese companies benefit most from the ambitious infrastructure projects. In addition, the official position on the strategic ramifications of BRI of regional organizations (i.e. the European Union, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations) and national governments will be analyzed. |
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Program
March 20, 2019
8:30 REGISTRATION
Václav Havel Room, Krížkovského 12
9:00–10:30 OPENING CEREMONY
Welcome Speech
Jaroslav Miller (Rector, Palacký University Olomouc, Czech Republic)
Introduction of the Project “Sinophone Borderlands – Interaction at the Edges”
Ondrej Kucera (Department of Asian Studies and Sinophone Borderlands Project, Palacký University Olomouc, Czech Republic)
Keynote Speech: The Fragility of the Belt and Road Initiative Yuan Horng Chu (National Chiao Tung University, Taiwan)
Moderators: Alfred Gerstl and Mária Strašáková (both Palacký University Olomouc, Czech Republic)
10:30–11:00 COFFEE BREAK
11:00–13:00 PANEL 1: BRI AND ITS IMPACT IN SOUTHEAST ASIA
The Belt and Road Initiative: At the Service of the Chinese Grand Strategy?
Tanguy Struye de Swielande (Université Catholique de Louvain, Belgium)
Logistics, Infrastructure, and Local Impacts: Chinaled BRI in Southeast Asia
Joyce C.H. Liu (National Chiao Tung University, Taiwan)
11:00–13:00 PANEL 2: BRI AND ITS IMPACT IN CENTRAL ASIA
Comparing “Silk Road” Rhetoric and Policy Implementa- tion in the Chinese, Japanese and Korean Engagement Strategies in Central Asia
Timur Dadabaev (University of Tsukuba, Japan)
The European Union, USA and Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Central Asia: Competing Actors with Different Goals?
Alica Kizeková (Institute of International Relations Prague, Czech Republic)
13:00–14:00 LUNCH
14:00–16:00 PANEL 1: BRI AND ITS IMPACT IN SOUTHEAST ASIA
At the Margin of the Belt and Road Initiative? A Multidis- ciplinary Approach of the Case of Brunei
Jérémy Jammes (Universiti Brunei Darussalam, Brunei)
Red Dot and the Belt and Road Initiative
Irene Chan (Nanyang Technological University, Singapore)
14:00–16:00 PANEL 2: BRI AND ITS IMPACT IN CENTRAL ASIA
China’s Belt and Road Initiative in Central Asia – Devlopment and Securitization in the Silk Road Economic Belt (SREB)
Yuka Kobayashi (School of Oriental and African Studies, Great Britain)
Chinese BRI Policy – a View from Ashgabat
Slavomír Horák (Tbilisi State University, Georgia)
March 21, 2019
9:00–11:00
PANEL 3: BRI AND ITS IMPACT ON CENTRAL EASTERN EUROPE
Bilateral and Subregional Cooperation in the Framework of “16+1”
Jing Long (Shanghai Institutes for International Studies, PRC)
Economic Policy Implications of the Belt and Road Initiative for CESEE and Austria
Robert Stehrer (Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, Austria)
Localizing China’s Global Silk Roads through the “16+1”
Emilian Kavalski (University of Nottingham Ningbo, PRC)
11:00–11:15 COFFEE BREAK
11:15–12:45 PANEL 3: BRI AND ITS IMPACT ON CENTRAL EASTERN EUROPE
Deciphering China’s Strategic Partnerships in Central and Eastern Europe
Bartosz Kowalski (University of Łódź, Poland)
The Worsening Perception of China in the Czech Republic: Between Criticism and rising Sinophobia
Rudolf Fürst (Institute of International Relations)
12:45–13:30 LUNCH
13:30–15:00 PANEL 4: SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES IN THE THREE REGIONS
The Chinese Belt and Road Initiative and its Impact on Democratization and De-Democratization Processes
Wolfram Schaffar (University of Passau, Germany)
15:00–15:30 COFFEE BREAK
15:30–17:00 PANEL 5 (public): Along the Silk Roads: Realities and Prospects of Connections Silk Ropes and Hopes on the Road
Petra Andělová (Metropolitan University Prague, Czech Republic)
Rail Projects and the Belt and Road Initiative
Frédéric Lasserre (Laval University, Canada)
Europe Goes Silk Road – A Young European Initiative Sebastian Holler and Sebastian Maier (Europe Goes Silk Road, Vienna, Austria)
17:00–17:30 COFFEE BREAK
17:30–19:00 PANEL 6 (public): China´s Belt and Road Iniatitve – Impacts on Europe and Asia
Jaroslav Miller, Rector, Palacký University Olomouc, Czech Republic
Ondřej Kučera, Head of the Project Sinophone Borderland– Interaction at the Edges, Department of Asian Studies, Palacký University Olomouc, Czech Republic
Werner Fasslabend, Former Minister of Defence Austrian Institute for European and Security Policy
(AIES), Austria Štefan Füle, former European Commissioner for Enlargement and Neighbourhood Policy, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Joint Czech-China Chamber of Mutual Cooperation, Prague, Czech Republic
Martin Klepetko, Director of the Asia-Pacific Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Czech Republic
Jing Long, Shanghai Institute for International Studies, PRC Tanguy Struye de Swielande, Université Catholique de Louvain, Belgium
19:00–21:00 CONFERENCE RECEPTION
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