BRUSSELS – Some European countries are beginning to block Chinese participation in their economies, approaching positions defended by the US amid growing anxiety in Europe over China’s increasingly aggressive geopolitical stance.
Baltic Sea governments on the Adriatic have recently canceled public tenders that Chinese state-owned enterprises were to win or ban Chinese companies from investing or contracting in their countries.
The changes have been sparked by a mix of national security concerns and disappointment over the performance of Chinese contractors, officials involved in the decisions say. Several of the canceled projects belonged to China’s global infrastructure initiative, Belt and Road, which has disappointed several participating countries.
The change is largely in smaller European countries, which adds to tensions in the European Union, where large countries still largely favor the maintenance of trade ties with China.
Romania and Lithuania are taking extensive measures to exclude Chinese companies from certain public contracts. Other movements are more oriented. Authorities in Slovenia, Croatia, the Czech Republic and Romania have suspended public tenders for Chinese companies to work on nuclear power plants, highways, railway lines, security scanners and a shipping container terminal. Greece is debating whether to allow a Chinese shipping company to increase its majority stake in the country’s largest port.