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.