Context: Recently, Lithuania said it was quitting China’s 17+1 cooperation forum with central and eastern European states that includes other EU members, calling it “divisive”.
Key Points

• Lithuania’s move to leave the 17+1 format is the latest indication of the deteriorating relationship between China and the European Union.
• The latest move is partially driven by China’s latest countermeasures over EU accusations against China’s Xinjiang policy.
• It also called for a UN investigation of Beijing’s internment camps for Uighurs and asked the European Commission to review relations with Beijing.

Growing Distance

• Czech Republic President’s decision to skip the ninth summit of the 17+1 initiative citing lack of actual investments, had showcased the differences between Beijing and Prague.
• Some CEE countries refused to attend the BRI event in 2020.
• The Huawei Equation: Some CEE countries signed a declaration with the US to ban China’s 5G network expansion.

What is the “17+1” initiative?

• The 17+1 initiative is a China-led format founded in 2012 in Budapest with an aim to expand cooperation between Beijing and the Central and Eastern European (CEE) member countries, with investments and trade for the development of the CEE region.
• The framework also focuses on infrastructure projects such as bridges, motorways, railway lines and modernisation of ports in the member states.
• The platform is largely seen as an extension of China’s flagship Belt and Road initiative (BRI).
• China’s narrative towards the 17+1 initiative is about improving its relations with the European countries that are less developed as compared to the Western European states.

Composition

• The initiative includes twelve EU member states and five Balkan states — Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Slovenia.