Georgian Parliament Speaker says Brussels seeks to eliminate China as competitor through propaganda campaign

Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Wednesday commented on the domestic opposition’s assessments of Georgia’s comprehensive strategic partnership agreement with China, saying that the country’s foreign policy is designed to achieve the domestic objectives, including improving public welfare and advancing national reunification.

In his interview with Imedi TV, Papuashvili dismissed as “nonsense” claims that Georgia’s relations with China could threaten the interests of other countries in broader global processes.

“It is absurd to suggest that Georgia, through its relations with China or any other state, could endanger the interests of another country in global affairs, whether that be the United States or anyone else”, he noted.

The Parliament Speaker stressed that Georgia had not fought for and sacrificed for its sovereignty only to relinquish its independent right to determine, shape, and conduct its own foreign policy to external actors.

“We pursue our foreign policy in order to achieve our domestic goals - increasing the welfare of our population and reunifying our country. These are the two primary objectives of the Georgian Dream government. Unlike the radical opposition, for whom these objectives do not exist, their goal is to turn Georgia into a client state serving the interests of others. We will do everything that serves Georgia’s interests without asking anyone’s permission, and we will not do anything that does not serve those interests”, Papuashvili continued.

The Speaker further added that efforts to portray China as a threatening force were part of a long-standing and deliberate propaganda strategy pursued by Brussels to sideline a competitor.

“We often communicate with representatives of candidate countries, particularly from the Balkans, and we have frequently heard from them that the European Union exerted certain pressure on them regarding relations with China. China was deliberately presented as a bogeyman that they should fear”, he said.

“This creation of an image of China as a source of evil is a long-term, targeted propaganda line that Brussels has adopted in order to remove a competitor”, Papuashvili concluded.