THE RELATIONS OF SERBIA AND THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA AT THE BEGINNING OF THE 21ST CENTURY

DIMITRIJEVIĆ Duško (Naučni savetnik u Institutu za međunarodnu politiku i privredu, Beograd), dimitrijevicd@diplomacy.bg.ac.rs

The current relations of the Republic of Serbia with the Peopleʼs Republic of China (hereinafter: Serbia and China) are conditioned by many political, economic, legal and social factors. The mentioned factors point to the existence of asymmetry in many aspects which, however, is not an issue that implies that the two parties can not develop good and friendly relations. In the historical and international legal sense, the relations of the two countries are characterized by the continuity of diplomatic relations established on January 2, 1955, between the then Federal People\'s Republic Yugoslavia and the People\'s Republic of China. Serbia as the successor state of SFR Yugoslavia continues to treat China as one of its most important partners in international relations, which is manifested through the foreign policy course, according to which China is one of the main “pillars” of Serbia\'s foreign policy alongside the European Union, Russia and the United States. The mere reference to the main “pillars” in Serbia\'s foreign policy orientation indicates that China is a key player in world politics and a great power with which Serbia needs to build relations of a “comprehensive strategic partnership”. It is not surprising, therefore, that the deepening of the Serbian-Chinese relations on a bilateral and multilateral level (especially within the UN, regional international organizations and political forums such as the 16 + 1 mechanism between China and the countries of Central and Eastern Europe) contributed to better strategic positioning of Serbia in modern international relations.

Keywords: Serbia, China, foreign policy, international relations, strategic positioning