China-Georgia Strategic Partnership Declaration: Accusations of Unconstitutionality - Why is this Declaration at the Center of Discussions?

In recent years, relations between Georgia and China have acquired new momentum, reaching a peak in 2023 with the signing of a declaration on strategic partnership. This step marks an important stage in bilateral cooperation, covering politics, economics, culture and international relations. Visa liberalization, Georgia's active participation in the Belt and Road Initiative and efforts by both sides to strengthen the Middle Corridor create significant prospects for development.

However, this breakthrough has not been without challenges. Domestic political disagreements, criticism from Western countries and accusations of an unbalanced agreement highlight the desire to minimize mutual interests between Tbilisi and Beijing. In the context of global geopolitical competition, Georgia's cooperation with China is becoming a subject of lively domestic and international discussions. On July 31, 2023, China and Georgia announced establishing a strategic partnership. On September 11 of the same year, Georgia unilaterally abolished the visa regime with China. Irakli Garibashvili was the Prime Minister of Georgia in the summer of 2023, and he stated that he was "immensely happy" about the "productive and friendly" visit to China. Since May 28, 2024, Georgian citizens can visit China and stay in the country without a visa for 30 days. Former President of Georgia Salome Zurabishvili stated on January 22, 2025, that the declaration on strategic partnership between Georgia and China, signed in 2023, is unconstitutional. She emphasized that allegedly "neither the parliament, nor, perhaps, even the then Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili saw the text of the document before it was signed." Zurabishvili also pointed out the "imbalance of the agreement." According to Salome Zurabishvili, "...Georgia recognizes the principle of "One China", while China only generally recognizes the principle of territorial integrity and sovereignty, without specifically mentioning Georgia...". However, such a statement seems extremely untenable. The text of the document directly emphasizes the commitment to the territorial integrity of Georgia, and numerous statements and industry agreements have repeatedly confirmed this position on the part of China. China has signed statements on the territorial integrity of Georgia at all venues of authoritative international organizations. Moreover, the partnership of the two countries has repeatedly demonstrated mutual respect for sovereignty, which makes such criticism controversial and politically motivated. Such a format of recognition cannot create any asymmetry in the obligations of the parties and cannot raise questions about the equality of the partnership. After waiting for almost a 2-year pause, former President of Georgia Salome Zurabishvili noted that, allegedly, the strategic partnership with China is not balanced. Neither in 2023 nor in 2024 did Salome Zurabishvili find any inconsistency in the declaration on strategic partnership with China. During the period when she was the acting president and there were no such statements on her part, since she herself knew and knows that all procedures were carried out in accordance with the law and this agreement was approved by the Parliament of Georgia. The declaration was signed under due consideration, and this may indicate the absence of any violation of the legislative process of Georgia.

Obviously, such a statement by the former President of Georgia Salome Zurabishvili is aimed at provoking a discussion of this Declaration both within the country and in the international arena, especially given the strategic importance of relations between Georgia and China within the framework of the One Belt, One Road initiative. The establishment of a strategic partnership between the countries was expectedly criticized by Western countries. According to the Georgian Prime Minister’s Office, the strategic partnership points out four areas: the political dimension, the economic dimension, the dimension of people-to-people and cultural relations, and the international dimension.

In terms of the political dimension, the parties reaffirm their respect for the sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity of all countries. Georgia firmly supports the one-China principle. The parties consider each other “important strategic partners” and “consider deepening bilateral relations a priority in their foreign policy.” Georgia believes that China’s modernization “offers humanity a new path and a new choice to achieve modernization.” The parties express their readiness to exchange experiences in the field of governance “to ensure common development and prosperity.” Other elements of the strategic partnership within the political dimension include strengthening political consultations, expanding ties between central and local governments, as well as political groups and parties, to “exchange experiences and strengthen relations in various areas.”

Regarding the eco-economic dimension, Georgia and China have expressed their readiness to further enhance bilateral trade, optimize its structure, expand the range of goods, and increase the export of goods and services from Georgia to China. Georgia welcomes China's "One Belt, One Road" initiative. The parties have signed several documents, including a bilateral cooperation plan between the governments of the People's Republic of China and Georgia within the framework of this initiative. The plan aims to strengthen cooperation, unlock greater potential, and ensure sustainable development.

The parties express their readiness to "promote mutual investment and trade; The parties will stimulate cooperation in the fields of transport, communications, infrastructure modernization, development and strengthening of the Middle Corridor, digital technologies, manufacturing, modernization and development of railway networks, agriculture and food security, water resources, environmental protection, combating desertification, water desalination, conformity assessment with standards, the use of Georgia's transit infrastructure for the unimpeded export of Chinese products to Western consumer markets, the exchange of technological achievements and know-how, and the retraining of human resources." China and Georgia will continue to deepen cooperation within the framework of the Free Trade Agreement signed in 2018; Opportunities to improve this agreement will be actively used. The parties will strengthen cooperation in the field of tourism. Georgia views cooperation between China and the countries of Central and Eastern Europe as a "pragmatic, open and mutually beneficial platform for regional cooperation."

According to the document, China will study the issue of preferential loans to Georgia for the implementation of social and infrastructure projects. In the dimension of relations between peoples and cultural relations, the parties express their readiness to actively implement scientific and technical cooperation, renew the Agreement on Cooperation in Science and Technology, which was signed in 1993 between China and Georgia. The parties agree to strengthen cultural cooperation, including in the fields of tourism, healthcare, youth and sports, as well as cooperation between universities. The parties will assist universities in implementing practical cooperation similar to joint educational programs; Universities will be encouraged to “make full use of high-quality digital educational resources and take them into account in joint online and offline formats.” The parties will “promote mutual exchanges and joint development of students through government scholarship instruments and other means.” According to the document, the parties attach great importance to language exchange and cooperation programs, encourage schools in both countries to study Chinese and Georgian; Are ready to implement and retrain foreign language teacher exchange programs; They support the development of Confucius Institutes (Chinese language learning classes). China and Georgia agreed to “strengthen coordination and cooperation in regional and international affairs; Will firmly safeguard the international system built around the UN, the international order based on international law, and the basic norms of international relations based on the purposes and principles of the UN Charter; Will promote the implementation of a new type of international relations.” The document says that Georgia and China support “promoting the common values of humanity - peace, development, cooperation, justice, democracy and freedom; respect the independent choice of all peoples in determining the path of development corresponding to their national capabilities, and promote the creation of a society with a common future for mankind. Georgia supports the global development initiative proposed by China and is ready to take an active part in cooperation within the framework of this initiative in order to accelerate the implementation of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development." The declaration also states that Georgia supports the global security initiative proposed by China. The parties want to strengthen relations and cooperation within the framework of this initiative and make joint efforts for a peaceful and stable international security environment, to promote and protect the common development of the countries of the region.

Georgia supports the global civilization initiative proposed by China. The parties agreed that they will actively cooperate to implement this initiative. Zurabishvili's statement is aimed at maintaining the "status of a fighter for Western values", since her entire conscious life as a diplomatic official was shaped by Eurocentric paradigms about the exclusivity of the Western world and the peripherality of "wild Asia". Attempts to divide Georgia's civil society by declaring the Declaration unconstitutional two years after its signing are aimed, at least in part, at complicating Georgia's relations with China and influencing previously established agreements, such as the visa-free regime and investment projects. At the same time, this attempt may affect the perception of Georgia as a reliable partner in the international arena.

At the most opportune time, attempts to "demonize" China in the Georgian press have begun, which may be associated with several factors:

Georgia is focused on multi-vector cooperation, both with the European Union and the United States, and with Asian countries, which makes the country more stable in unstable geopolitical turbulence. However, long-term one-sidedly formed "tastes" of Eurocentrism make Georgian civil society more susceptible to narratives emanating from Western media. In the context of the global confrontation between the West and the East, the Georgian press can retransmit anti-Eastern, anti-Asian and anti-Chinese rhetoric, which may correspond to the strategic interests of Western countries, but not to the long-term strategic interests of Georgia.

China is actively investing in the Caucasus region, including infrastructure projects and logistics. These investments are sometimes presented to Georgian society as a form of "soft expansion", and this propaganda is aimed at creating fears that local economies may become dependent on China. Against the backdrop of many times superior forms of "soft expansion" of Western countries, Russia, Chinese investments will not be able to reach the same scale in the coming decades. And this narrative is also one of the directions and tools of "demonization" of China in the Caucasus.

Unfortunately, once again we are faced with the fact that the lack of reliable information about the real goals and scale of Chinese initiatives, such as the "One Belt, One Road" project, leads to the spread of stereotypes and exaggerations. This makes the propaganda of Eurocentrists successful. For example, that China allegedly intends to undermine sovereignty or buy up strategic resources, which can cause fear in society. Statements about the unconstitutionality of the signed Declaration are one of the targeted information campaigns by external or internal players, which aim to create anti-Chinese sentiments in order to achieve political or economic goals. Of course, these information campaigns actively rely on the cultural and informational distance between Georgia and China in order to promote mistrust and misperception of China in Georgia. Ignorance of the culture and characteristics of Chinese business also contribute to the generation of fears and myths that are amplified in the media. Of course, with so many challenges directed against the Georgian-Chinese successes, there is a need for closer cooperation between the think tanks of China and Georgia, the media in order to develop recommendations for overcoming artificially created obstacles to the construction of the Middle Corridor.

GSR

SR-CENTER.INFO