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29 May 2020 ISSN: 2560-1628 2020 No. 20 WORKING PAPER Belt and Road Initiative, “17+1” and Albania’s narrative of China: Shaping Perception in Political Terms Dr. Marsela Musabelliu Kiadó: Kína-KKE Intézet Nonprofit Kft. Szerkesztésért felelős személy: Chen Xin Kiadásért felelős személy: Wu Baiyi 1052 Budapest Petőfi Sándor utca 11. +36 1 5858 690 [email protected] china-cee.eu Belt and Road Initiative, “17+1” and Albania’s narrative of China: Shaping Perception in Political Terms Dr. Marsela Musabelliu1 Abstract An important driving force for smooth cooperation between two countries is how one perceives the other. The main objective of this paper is to understand how People’s Republic of China (PRC), in all its multifaceted foreign policy endeavors, is perceived in Albanian politics and in what manners the reactions of the main political actors reflect on the current state of affairs. Albania’s political narrative towards China’s initiatives in the region is subdivided in three reference points: the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), the China-CEE cooperation or the “17+1”, and PRC in the international stage - by observing which is the coverage of each of them and how/if they intersect with local politics. i) The BRI proclaimed by President Xi in 2013 is a strategy developed by PRC while reimagining the ancient Silk Road trading routes that connected East and West over land and sea. As Albania stands into the intersections of this global plan it is tried to comprehend via the behavior of its policymakers if the country is embracing this initiative and to what extent. ii) With the China-Central and Eastern European Countries (CEEC) cooperation, every member state of the “17+1” mechanism has the opportunity to display it national interest towards PRC in a multilateral platform. Albania’s presence into this mechanism is assessed via its attitude in the High-level Symposium and how these yearly events resonate in the country. iii) The rationale of current Sino-Albanian relations, main topics of China-related comments, China- enthusiast and China-antagonists with their arguments and inclination towards PRC are explored in order to identify predominant tendencies and basic motivations. The theoretical framework for discussion is based on Fisher’s narrative paradigm in trying to identify if there is an agenda with regards to China or if Albania is approaching the Middle Kingdom on pragmatic terms. The extent of China as a topic of political attention could embody the very essence of the current state of affairs of the Sino-Albanian relations by contributing so not only to an academic perspective but also to practical relevance. Key Words: Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), China-CEEC, Sino-Albanian relations, political narrative. 1 Albanian Institute for Globalization Studies (AIGS). 1 Introduction According to Aristotle, some statements are superior to others by virtue of their relationship to true knowledge. Logos vs. mythos, facts vs. emotions, storytelling vs. true information – these are the realms where general perception is shaped, modified, shifted and even created. There are two mainstream modern theories describing people’s behavior and motifs when narrating a story. The Rational World Paradigm, rooted in the sciences, states that humans are essentially rational beings and goes on to explain the reasoning behind this assumption. The Rational- world paradigm can be defined as, “a scientific or philosophical approach to knowledge that assumes people is logical, making decisions on the basis of evidence and lines of argument” (Griffin, 2012, p.311). Contrary, the Narrative Paradigm presents the alternative humanistic view, which takes a step further and states that humans are essentially storytellers.2 The creator of the theory Walter Fisher (1987) explains the principles by proposing the narrative paradigm as a philosophy of reason, value and action. The essential components of this logic are: human communication is tested against the principles of probability (coherence) and fidelity (truthfulness and reliability). Probability, whether a story “hangs together,” is assessed in three ways: by its argumentative or structural coherence; by its material coherence, that is, by comparing and contrasting stories told in other and by characterological coherence. Indeed, Fisher argues that central to all stories is character. Whether a story is believable depends on the reliability of characters, both as narrators and as actors. Determination of one’s character is made by interpretations of the person’s decisions and actions that reflect values (Fisher 1987, p.31). In Albanian public discourse, when concerning foreign nations, the characters of storytelling are in the overwhelming majority politicians. Be they in position of power or opposition, current or previous, known or relatively unknown to the public, they are the first to comment and analyze a foreign country politicians are the ones who shape public perception via their actions, reactions and declarations. The sections below will analyze the political discourse of Albania in relation to PRC. The starting point for reference will be the 1990s: since these were times of dramatic structural, social, political and economic transformation for Albania and its entire foreign affairs attitude went through an intense recalibration process. While the bilateral cooperation of China and 2 Morrow, S. (2009, July 2). How stories change our lives. Retrieved from: https://saganmorrow.com/rhetorically/forms-of-rhetoric-the-narrative-paradigm/ 2 Albania during the Cold War has been a topic of research for many preeminent works (see Muneka, 2019; Marku, 2017; Mehilli, 2014; Tretiak, 1977; Biberaj, 1986), research for the last three decades is almost inexistent. Sino-Albanian relations and politics - Old Allies, New Ties? This section attempts to shed some light into the bilateral cooperation between China and Albania after the radical transformations of the 1990s. As the “winds of Change” were approaching the end of the Cold War, they also signed a new era for Albanian history. The normalization of the relations with the great powers of the international arena was the first aim of the new Government established in 1992. Since with PRC the diplomatic relations were never interrupted, it was easier for the Albanian new government to re-establish those ties. The theoretical base of analysis lays on the separation of periods as subdivided by Kong (2015). In meticulously analyzing the China-CEE cooperation after the end of the Cold War, the author identifies three major timeframes: a) The first period: 1989–1998, coined the time of mutual disengagement;3 b) The second period: 1999–2008, both China and CEE start to find their place into the international arena;4 c) The third period: From 2009 onwards, the financial crisis that created opportunity.5 China-CEEC: the Albanian positioning In this timeline, political and economic factors are intertwined based on the above analysis, by trying to make Albania a single unit not as part of the CEEC grouping; we argue that the Sino-Albanian relations fall almost exactly on the subdivision made by Kong, with characteristic as: a) The first period: 1991-2001, the decade of sidelined cooperation The 1990s has been a harsh decade for Albania as well as almost all transitional societies; the country had difficulties re-adjusting the social, economic and political structures. The Albanian transition was accompanied by mass migration in the first half of the decade and by social conflicts in the second one. Concerning PRC, the only reminiscences Albanian people had were the “tales” of the elderly about the Chinese support and the propaganda of the 3 In this phase, Prof. Kong argues that China and CEE countries observed each other through ideological prism. The new ruling elite in CEEC that mainly came from the dissidents, perceived China as a classical communist state, thus cooperation was hindered. 4This referred to the period where China and CEEC started to find its place in international stage. China increasingly became a global power. China’s accession to WTO in 2001 marked China’s full integration of global economy stand CEEC started joining the European Union. 5 Kong identifies the roots of this third phase in the financial crisis of 2008, where both China and CEEC were giving new impetuses to their bilateral cooperation. 3 seventies. Albanian officials and specialists who visited China during the “Golden Age” of the Sino-Albanian relations could now speak freely and share their experience. Therefore, they did. The books of history were re-written and the aspects of this peculiar international cooperation that attracted so much attention in the midst of the Cold War were made public. Nevertheless, after the glorious legacy of the past there was one-decade of total/mutual obliviousness. In the 1990s, news on China and from China were almost inexistent in Albania. This can be attributed to the massive difficulties the entire society was facing and the social/political instability of the country. On the other hand, the totally isolated Albania for half a century was trying to reach West and mass migration to Italy, Germany, Greece, France, USA, etc. influenced Albania in every step of its transition. It is understandable that public attention was targeted on the above-mentioned nations because their path to development and welfare was seen something to aspire to. b) the second period: 2001-2012, the decade mutual exploration At the beginning of the century, perception and attitude started to shift especially from the business circles. For the first time in decades, Albanians were traveling again to China, this time for business opportunities and in the majority of cases, the trip to China entailed purchase of locally produced merchandise. From 2001 to 2010, Albania witnessed an ever-growing presence of Chinese commodities in its markets and this is the decade when China made some headlines in the local media, however, these were isolated cases and did not have any considerable impact on the people’s perception of PRC.

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