Authoritarian strange bedfellows? European radical right parties’ positions on China: An analysis of roll-call votes in the european parliament
2025-05-11
This paper examines European Radical Right Parties’ (RRPs) positions on China using 209 roll-call votes from the VoteWatch Europe Dataset. While previous research suggests RRPs focus on economic issues, this study finds their interest lies in foreign and security matters. RRPs exhibit strong voting cohesion on “Support for Democratic Values” and “International Relations and Sanctions,” but are divided on “Trade and Economic Investment” and do not demonstrate a consistent voting pattern on “Global Cooperation and Development.” Overall, RRPs maintain a somewhat neutral to somewhat negative position, adopting a cherry-picking approach driven more by interests than ideology. Discrepancies between their rhetoric and voting behavior reveal a complex relationship with China, highlighting the need for further comparative studies on their social media discourse and legislative actions.