Coming From Nowhere: The Chinese Perception of the Concept of Central Europe
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| Year of publication | 2014 |
| Type | Chapter of a book |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
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| Description | In the last few years, the Central Europe has witnessed a growing Chinese presence demonstrated among others by high level visits; rapid growth of trade and investment volumes; and further pledges to develop economic links. There are more reasons why China has become interested in cultivating relations with this region, but it is primarily due to favourable economic conditions and the membership of the EU. Yet, while there are promising potentials for further development of the relations, it seems there are also obstacles, coming mainly from mutual lack of understanding and knowledge. The presented article studies Chinese perception of Central Europe as a concept and it does so by focusing at the Chinese discourse related to the usage of the terms labelling the region, at three levels of discourse – official use, general public discourse, and academia. The findings show that the term ‘Central Europe’, whilst existing at certain level, is to a large extent eclipsed by the broader ‘Central and Eastern Europe’, or ‘Eastern Europe’. Tellingly, each of these terms is connoted with different perceptions and historical legacies, with ‘Eastern’ being in general perceived in less positive tone in European context than ‘Central’. It can be therefore regarded as a positive sign from the European perspective that the ‘Eastern Europe’ is losing its frequency in the official use on expense of the ‘Central and Eastern Europe’. Yet, questions appear on the wider public usage of the terms, as well as the non-existence of the ‘Central Europe’ in official usage and among the academia. |
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