Navigating China and the Indo-Pacific: Strategic Recalibration in Czechia and Lithuania

Summary

The EU’s approach to China has evolved from engagement and economic cooperation toward greater strategic caution, diversification, and regional awareness. Growing concerns over supply-chain vulnerabilities, economic dependencies, and geopolitical risks have prompted a more nuanced European stance in ties with Beijing. The COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s war in Ukraine further accelerated these debates, highlighting the EU’s exposure to external shocks and the need to balance economic engagement with security and resilience. This broader reflection has coincided with the EU’s adoption of the Indo-Pacific framework, which situates China in a regional context and emphasizes partnerships, multilateralism, and strategic diversification.

Smaller member states in Central and Eastern Europe have played a distinctive role in this evolution. Notably, Czechia and Lithuania have developed and published respective Indo-Pacific strategies despite their limited historical ties to the region and capacities for engagement there. These strategies serve multiple purposes: signaling foreign policy agency and values, institutionalizing a recalibrated approach toward China, and aligning with broader EU and transatlantic priorities. Lithuania’s approach has been assertive and values-driven, framing China as a systemic challenge and emphasizing alignment with democratic partners in the Indo-Pacific. Czechia’s strategy is more pragmatic and measured, focusing on economic security, diversification, and selective engagement with partners such as India, Japan, and South Korea. The two countries face similar constraints on their ability to implement their strategies, including a limited diplomatic presence in the region and small institutional capacity, which have led them to prioritize among partners and thematic areas. 

Czechia and Lithuania illustrate the diversity of approaches to China within the EU. Larger member states such as France and Germany have traditionally shaped EU policy through their economic weight and global influence, but these two cases highlight the capacity of smaller members for agency and contribution, even with their limited resources. Differences in tone, implementation, and strategic focus across member states underscore the challenges of coherence in EU policy, while demonstrating the value of national initiatives. National strategies enrich the EU’s Indo-Pacific engagement by adding specificity and direction, even as they reveal disparities in ambition and capacity. When these are integrated thoughtfully with EU initiatives, the diverse resources and priorities of members can complement the EU’s overall engagement and strengthen its collective influence in the Indo-Pacific.  

An evaluation of the experience of Czechia and Lithuania with their Indo-Pacific strategies shows that they need to dedicate adequate funding to implementation, to develop follow-up mechanisms and plans, to strengthen their institutional expertise in the region, to pursue greater specialization in terms of themes and countries engaged, to mainstream the strategies in their diplomatic engagements, and to increase strategic communication and visibility around them. Beyond the national level, these two cases show the need to formalize EU coordination and information-sharing mechanisms on Indo-Pacific policy so as to strengthen EU-level coherence without limiting national flexibility, to include small member states’ perspectives in the Global Gateway initiative for infrastructure, and to develop the potential for coordination on the Indo-Pacific among countries in Central and Eastern Europe.

Zuzana Krulichová is a ReThink.CEE Fellow 2024 of the German Marshall Fund of the United States.