Opinion: 'Georgian Dream is telling the US: We do not want relations with you, we prefer China'
Opinion on Georgia-China-US relations
According to historian Teimuraz Papaskiri, Georgia‘s decision to sign a comprehensive strategic partnership agreement with China raises important questions. In the expert’s view, closer ties with one of Russia’s key strategic partners effectively amount to closer alignment with Russia itself. Papaskiri also argued that relations with China cannot replace Georgia’s partnerships with the European Union and the United States.
At a briefing on relations with China, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said that the strategic partnership agreement signed by Georgia and China on 9 June 2026 would take bilateral relations to a new level and bring significant political and economic benefits to the country.
Teimuraz Papaskiri: “Normally, there is nothing wrong with signing a strategic agreement, because the more strategic partners you have, the stronger your position in international politics. But we now find ourselves in a different situation. The strategic partnership agreement with the United States has effectively been suspended. We also face a very difficult situation in our relations with the European Union.
Against that backdrop, Georgia is signing an agreement with China, which raises questions because China does not support our country’s territorial integrity in the way that the United States and the EU do.
China has consistently refrained from supporting the UN resolution on the return of refugees to Abkhazia. That is why the real question is how beneficial this cooperation actually is for us.
Who is China’s strategic partner today? It is a strategic partner of Russia and Iran. Joining that camp is highly undesirable. Russia is our enemy. It occupies part of Georgia’s territory. Entering into a strategic alliance with Russia’s strategic partner effectively means entering into an alliance with Russia.”
“It is difficult to say exactly what China’s interests in Georgia may be. We know that China pursues certain financial projects in different regions. These arrangements have often created serious difficulties for countries that entered into such agreements with Beijing. African countries, in particular, have faced problems linked to China’s financial policies.
Relations with China cannot in any way replace Georgia’s relationship with the European Union. The EU and Europe are the partners that are closest to our population in terms of lifestyle and mentality.
The United States is also close to us in that sense, although it is geographically much farther away. The key issue is that the US views China as its main strategic rival. Forming an alliance with China is therefore short-sighted, especially at a time of undeclared conflict between the United States and Iran, another of China’s partners. China cannot replace the United States and Europe for Georgia.
Georgian Dream is effectively telling the United States: ‘We do not intend to maintain relations with you. We prefer China.’
The problem with Georgian Dream is that it wants to behave like a dictatorship, even though it cannot afford to do so. It also wants others to treat it as they treat authoritarian regimes, but that is not going to happen.”
Opinion on Georgia-China-US relations
