China’s role in the EU’s search for strategic autonomy: nonhegemonic power relations during world order transition

Abstract By applying an analysis framework related to historical structure developed by Robert W. Cox, the article attempts to explore China’s role in the European Union (EU)’s search for strategic autonomy (SA). Moreover, it aims to understand big power relations during world order transition in a broader sense. The article argues that EU-SA is the EU’s strategy to navigate through the transition in global order and to maintain its values and interests in the upcoming order. In other words, EU-SA is a hegemonic game both inside and beyond the EU. That is how China is related to EU-SA. EU-SA can be evaluated as ideas, institutions and capabilities and China has been involved in EU-SA on three interrelated levels: social forces, forms of state and global order. The author provides a comprehensive summary of several features of China–Europe relations as well as nonhegemonic power relations during world order transition.