European Right-Wing Populist Parties' Approach toward China: Between Anti-Globalization and Appeal for Diversified International Partnerships.

Despite the fact that right-wing populist parties (RPPs) have gained increased prominence in the last 15 years in Europe and the amount of research regarding these parties has been on the rise, RPPs' attitude toward the People's Republic of China remains an understudied issue. The aim of this article is to examine questions that have not yet been thoroughly researched: how are the positions of right-wing populist parties (RPPs) on China shaped and how are they evolving, what causes such differing positions, and have there been any changes in the RPP's approach to China since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic? This article aims to answer these questions by analyzing the policies toward China of selected political parties (primarily, Hungary's Fidesz, Italy's Lega Nord, France's Rassemblement National but also parties such as the Polish Law and Justice, and Germany's Alternative für Deutschland). This article underlines that RPPs' policies on China are formulated based on what they perceive the development of international politics can do "for the people." Their attitudes depend mainly on their stance toward free-market globalization, their need for alternatives in relations with the US and the EU, and their axiological perception of China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]