In recent years, countries all over the world have seen a great number of alleged cases of Chinese espionage and unwanted interference. The Netherlands is no exception. Instances of Chinese...Show moreIn recent years, countries all over the world have seen a great number of alleged cases of Chinese espionage and unwanted interference. The Netherlands is no exception. Instances of Chinese espionage and interference have become a ‘hot topic’ for Dutch media and politicians and seemingly caused much concern about national security, but to what extent did this reach the bilateral relations between the Netherlands and China? To provide more insight into this topic, this thesis aims to answer the question: how has Chinese espionage and unwanted interference impacted Sino-Dutch relations? It finds that while there have been increasing frictions between the Netherlands and China, also due to other issues, Sino-Dutch relations have not been significantly impacted by Chinese espionage and unwanted interference. This is due to several reasons, of which the most significant one is that the Netherlands has refrained from too much confrontation and for any actions that the Netherlands does take China blames the United States. Besides, other issues in the past, have also never had a significant impact on Sino-Dutch relations. However, while so far espionage and unwanted interference have not significantly impacted Sino-Dutch relations, it is uncertain whether the bilateral will remain as robust, especially because of geopolitical issues and a potentially more assertive Netherlands.Show less
North Korea’s possession of nuclear weapons is increasingly worrying the international community, a worry that has only escalated in the present as the threat becomes more and more legitimate. The...Show moreNorth Korea’s possession of nuclear weapons is increasingly worrying the international community, a worry that has only escalated in the present as the threat becomes more and more legitimate. The international community attempts to pacify North Korea to avoid the repercussions of a North Korean nuclear weapons launch using large and diverse amounts of aid in exchange for the demise of the North Korean nuclear program. This thesis explores the effectiveness of North Korea’s intimidation strategy against the international community through the lens of previous agreements, treaties, and aid given to North Korea by the United States, China, and South Korea. The findings identify a repeating pattern within the case studies concerning North Korea’s lack of commitment: it will agree to treaties to receive aid but will not sacrifice its nuclear weapons. Simply put, all aid agreements hoping for the dismantlement of the North Korean nuclear program will not achieve their goal of North Korean denuclearization. The strategy employed by North Korea can be deemed effective based on three unique criteria: advantage gain, recurrence, and diversification of aid. However, the strategy is only effective in the short term as aid can be rescinded as soon as an agreement is broken. More research is needed on the longevity of the strategy and how long it can continue to benefit North Korea.Show less
Relations between China and the global West have been deteriorating significantly in previous years, which has led to the closure of many of the Confucius Institutes - Chinese language and culture...Show moreRelations between China and the global West have been deteriorating significantly in previous years, which has led to the closure of many of the Confucius Institutes - Chinese language and culture institutes - worldwide. These institutes have received a lot of criticism from the West, but is this criticism and the closures it has caused justified? This is researched in this thesis by comparing the criticism towards the Confucius Institute with criticism and actions of the German equivalent, the Goethe Institute.This leads to the conclusion that criticism towards the Confucius Institute is generally quite extreme.Show less
