Post-Covid China has become more open to foreign tourists than it has ever been in decades, with Europe so far the main target of Beijing’s expanding unilateral visa-free entrance scheme.
That is, except Sweden, Lithuania and the Czech Republic – the only European Union (EU) nations not on the list.
Chinese analysts say the omission reflects what Beijing sees as problematic bilateral relations over issues ranging from Taiwan to access to technology. Tensions over the Ukraine war have made matters worse, they add, as Europe’s support for the former Soviet state clashes with Beijing’s continued backing of Moscow.
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Since November 2023, China has rolled out a string of unilateral visa-free schemes for countries worldwide. Passport holders from 38 countries are now able to enter China without a visa and stay for more than 30 days for business, tourism, family visit, or transit purposes.
On the list are 32 states across Europe, including 24 of the 27 EU member countries.
The scheme will run until the end of 2025, and the 38 countries are not required to extend the same treatment to Chinese nationals.
A crowded ancient city wall in Xian, in northwestern China, as the country opens up to more foreign nationals. Photo: Xinhua alt=A crowded ancient city wall in Xian, in northwestern China, as the country opens up to more foreign nationals. Photo: Xinhua>
However, Sweden, Lithuania and the Czech Republic are on a larger list of 54 countries whose citizens enjoy 10 days of visa-free transit via China, under a different scheme rolled out on December 17. Britain and the United States are also on the list.
Cui Hongjian, a former diplomat and the head of EU studies at Beijing Foreign Studies University, said the situation may only change when these countries’ policies towards Beijing change, such as on issues concerning Taiwan. He also said China would not welcome those that emphasise or even exaggerate ideological differences.
“The unilateral visa-free policy is a system for China to evaluate its relationship with these countries,” Cui said. “The goal is to make it easier for people-to-people exchanges, so we need to improve the environment for that.”
Wang Yiwei, director of the Institute of International Affairs at the Renmin University of China, offered a similar view.
He argued that the Ukraine war also had a role to play in the omission, as these countries were especially “anti-Russian” and tended to view China as being on the side of Moscow.
Sweden has been unfriendly towards China for some time now, according to Cui, the former diplomat. “On the ideological and optical front, Sweden still has some hostility towards China, so I don’t think opening up unilateral visa exemption for Sweden could yield good results,” he said.
Wang pointed to Sweden’s stance on the security of Chinese technology as a main source of friction.
According to a 2021 report by the Danish Institute of International Studies, diplomatic clashes between Sweden and China included Beijing’s demand for an apology after a comedy skit on Swedish TV in 2018 made fun of Chinese tourists.
Relations deteriorated even further in October 2020, the report said, when Swedish authorities issued an outright ban on Chinese telecoms giant Huawei’s equipment in the Nordic nation’s critical digital infrastructure.
As recently as July this year, the Chinese embassy in Sweden protested against remarks from some Swedish politicians that a Russian victory against Ukraine would “encourage China to seize territory from other countries”.
The remarks were “filled with Cold War mentality and ideological prejudice”, the embassy said on its website.
Most recently, severed telecoms cables in the Baltic Sea have added to the friction, with Sweden saying that China denied a request for prosecutors to carry out an investigation on a Chinese vessel allegedly linked to the incident in Swedish territorial waters last month.
As for Lithuania, relations became strained when it left China’s 17+1 cooperation forum in 2021, Wang said. The South China Morning Post reported at the time that Diana Mickeviciene, the Lithuanian ambassador to China, said the withdrawal was prompted by less-than-expected trade benefits.
Relations plunged further later that year, when Lithuania allowed Taiwan to open a de facto embassy under the name “The Taiwanese Representative Office”, when the precedent in Europe and the US was to use “Taipei” in order to avoid any reference to the island as a whole.
Beijing sees Taiwan as part of China to be reunited by force if necessary, and with no right to official international exchanges. Sweden, Lithuania and the Czech Republic, like most countries including Taiwan’s major backer the US, do not recognise the self-governed island as an independent state. Washington is also opposed to any attempt to take the self-governed island by force and is committed to arming it for defence.
Tensions over Taipei’s office in Vilnius have continued to fester. Earlier this month, Beijing warned of possible countermeasures after Lithuania declared three staff members of mainland China’s representative office as personae non gratae, requiring them to leave the country within a week.
Beijing’s foreign ministry condemned the decision as “without any reason”, while accusing the Baltic state of violating the one-China principle on Taiwan-related issues and damaging ties.
Taiwan also seems to be the focal point of Beijing’s tensions with the Czech Republic.
In January last year, then Czech president-elect Petr Pavel accepted a phone call from Taiwanese leader Tsai Ing-wen, becoming the first EU head of state to hold such direct talks. Beijing’s foreign ministry called the move a “blatant violation of the Czech Republic’s political commitment to the one-China principle”.
Two months later, the head of the Czech lower house led 150 business representatives, scientists and officials to Taiwan, despite repeated warnings from Beijing. The visit led to 11 memorandums of understanding on boosting economic, political and cultural ties with Taipei. They also negotiated terms of an arms deal, according to media reports.
In March this year, Taiwan’s then newly elected No 2 leader, Hsiao Bi-khim, visited Prague on a transit stop from the United States, also triggering a protest from Beijing. Her trip further deepened tensions after Czech authorities accused a diplomat from Beijing of following Hsiao’s motorcade, and said they were considering listing them as persona non grata.
The latest likely provocations for Beijing include the Czech Republic’s new cultural centre in Taipei set up in June, and Tsai’s visit to Prague in October on her first overseas trip since stepping down in May.
She was reportedly greeted at the airport by President Pavel and met several Czech lawmakers during her three-day visit.
This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP’s Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright © 2024 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
Copyright (c) 2024. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.