Deep mistrust persists despite renewed high-level engagement
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi toured the Nordic countries this week, breaking diplomatic bread in capitals where a Chinese foreign minister had not visited, in some cases, for almost a quarter of a century.
It was an attempt, experts say, to improve relations with one of Europe’s most China-sceptic regions, despite ongoing bilateral tensions around strategic investments, spy scandals, Chinese ships damaging Baltic Sea infrastructure, and Beijing’s staunch support for Moscow. It was also an opportunity to remind the Nordic countries – and Denmark in particular – that China is always waiting in the wings as America becomes increasingly fickle.
“The Nordics realise that the US is no longer a reliable partner, while China has become an increasingly indispensable actor because of the scale of the Chinese market, the centrality of Chinese supply chains, and the superiority of China’s green technologies,” said Andreas Forsby, a China expert at the Danish Institute for International Studies in Copenhagen.
Back in the early 2000s, when many in the West were trying to cultivate closer ties with Beijing, the Nordic countries competed to see which had the closest partnership with China. But from 2018 onwards, as the US-China rivalry intensified, they became embroiled in a series of bilateral disputes with Beijing, Forsby noted. China’s support for Russia’s war in Ukraine made relations even more fractious.
