When China’s first shipment of coronavirus medical aid landed in Belgrade, the president of Serbia was there to kiss the Chinese flag. In Hungary, officials have played down assistance from the European Union and praised Beijing’s help. In the Czech Republic, its president says that only China was there during the virus spread.
While elsewhere China tries to polish an image tarnished by its initial handling of the coronavirus outbreak, Beijing has no problem maintaining its hard-won influence in parts of Eastern Europe, where it battles for clout with the EU as well as with Russia.
China was criticized in the West for its early mishandling of the health crisis due to politically motivated foot-dragging while the virus raced through a major province and its capital, Wuhan. Now it is seeking to change perceptions through “mask diplomacy” — a combination of soft power policy, political messaging and aid shipments — to portray Beijing as a generous and efficient ally.
China for years has been increasing its political and economic influence in southeastern Europe through its Belt and Road global investment projects. Its image-polishing after the outbreak found fertile ground in places like Serbia and Hungary, whose populist leaders nurture close ties with Beijing or Moscow.
The aid shipments also drew praise in Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, although some virus test kits and face masks purchased from Chinese companies caused a stir because they didn’t meet local standards.
“We must be aware there is a geopolitical component, including a struggle for influence, through spinning and the politics of generosity,” EU’s top foreign policy official Josep Borrell recently wrote in a blog, referring to China. “Armed with facts, we need to defend Europe against its detractors.”
Chinese officials have repeatedly rejected claims that Beijing is seeking political gains by providing medical aid to other countries amid the virus, saying the allegations result from deep-rooted misperceptions of China’s goals in the West.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said Beijing is doing what it can “to help those countries and people affected ... to save and safeguard people’s lives and health to the greatest extent across the world.”
In Serbia, a candidate for EU membership, officials and state-controlled media have played down the millions of euros in grants and loans from Brussels while praising Chinese deliveries, donations and sales of supplies. Opposition groups have demanded that the aid from China be disclosed and stacked up against the EU’s apparently much larger assistance, but those calls have been ignored.
The pro-China narrative included billboards supporting Chinese President Xi Jinping, whom Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic routinely describes as his “brother,” as well as suggestions that a monument be erected to honor Belgrade’s friendship with Beijing.
“European solidarity does not exist. Only China can help,” Vucic said last month while announcing a nationwide state of emergency that gave him expanded powers in the health crisis. The EU’s executive arm, the European Commission, has pledged 15 million euros in immediate support for Serbia’s health sector, plus 78.4 million euros to help with its social and economic recovery.