CHINA’S INFLUENCE IN THE LATVIAN INFORMATION ENVIRONMENT
CHINA’S INFLUENCE IN THE LATVIAN INFORMATION ENVIRONMENT

Author(s): Una Aleksandra Bērziņa-Čerenkova, Egle Klekere
Subject(s): Media studies, Economic policy, Government/Political systems, International relations/trade, Security and defense, Political behavior, Politics and communication, Politics and society, Economic development, ICT Information and Communications Technologies
Published by: NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence
Keywords: China; Latvia; Information space and its manipulation; Public communication; media outlets; parliamentarian relationships; Xi Jinping;
Summary/Abstract: Different opinions have been expressed regarding the avenues and scope of influence of the People’s Republic of China in the Nordic-Baltic region. This study approaches the research topic by examining the Latvian information environment. There are several reasons behind the choice of Latvia for analysis. First, it is the country with the most populous city in the Baltics – Riga, which serves as a transport, political, cultural and financial hub. Second, with reference to the previous point, the overseas representations of various PRC institutions, including the government, state media (e.g. Xinhua), and public diplomacy (e.g. China Cultural Centre), have chosen Riga, the capital of Latvia, as the headquarters of their Baltic network. Third, during the period from 2012 to 2016, the early days of China’s engagement with the region, Latvia invested significant political capital into the idea of pragmatic cooperation with China, most notably in the transit sector, export, and FDI attraction. It is the only Baltic country to have hosted a ‘16+1’ Summit (the 5th Summit of China and Central and Eastern European Countries, 2016).

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