The EVC hosted closed-door roundtable with distinguished guests Michael Kovrig (International Crisis Group. ICG) and Ivana Karásková (Association for International Affairs, AMO). Discussions centered around China’s geopolitical strategies and coercive diplomacy which Beijing use as asymmetric coercion against Western governments in order to constrain their behaviors and influence their policy decisions. Michal Kovrig shared his experience of being detained in China for over 1,000 days following Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou’s arrest, highlighting international multi-level diplomatic efforts and Canada’s policy challenges and options in given diplomatic turmoil scenarios.
Ivana Karásková addressed China’s increasing use of coercion against scholars and its restrictions on foreign researchers, highlighting the growing lack of information flowing out of China due to expanding state censorship and the self-censorship of China scholars, journalists, and representatives, which might result to potentially dangerous misinterpretations from both sides on various levels.
The discussion emphasized China’s use of hostage diplomacy, sanctions, and information control, as well as the need for coordinated international action. The speakers stressed the importance of linking economic policies with human rights concerns and countering authoritarian influence through proactive diplomacy and multi-level cooperation.
