From Communist Allies to Pragmatics Partners: A Historical View of Albanian–Chinese Relations

Abstract

The Albanian–Chinese alliance existed between 1960 and 1978, an unusual relationship due to the roles and influences of both in and out of the Communist Bloc. Although ideological affinity is generally regarded as essential to the performance of an alliance, contingency and circumstance also matter. The main factors that influenced the character of the Sino-Albanian alliance will be revealed through the official correspondence of that time between the two countries, founded mainly in Central State Archive. Albania and China collaborated for 18 years and after their ideological conflicts Albania followed a self-isolation policy. After the fall of Communism in Albania, bilateral ties developed under the new circumstances for several years. It was China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) that helped create new conditions for cooperation. Through a descriptive analysis, this paper presumes/hypothesizes whether being old allies in the past can be considered as a prerequisite for cooperation in the present. In the beginning, Albania assessed the potential of BRI and proposed some important projects with China, but lately it has shown more ambivalence and reluctance toward the “[Formula: see text]” mechanism. We also examine the main factors on the Albanian side that may bolster or undercut future bilateral cooperation under the “16+1” framework.