‘Civic IDEA’ Responds to Speaker’s Allegations of Spreading Anti-Chinese Statements
On January 22, the Georgian NGO Civic IDEA, a self-described monitor of “China’s growing influence in Georgia”, issued a response to the harsh criticism of the organization and its founder Tinatin Khidasheli by the Speaker of the Parliament, Shalva Papuashvili. The harsh criticism intensified after the publication on January 18 of Civic IDEA’s brief entitled “A drop in the Ocean – Chinese investments in Georgia“.
The brief, based on statistical data, provides information on foreign direct investment from China. It highlights the “extremely small” share of Chinese investment in Georgia and illustrates the government’s “complete failure to attract Chinese investments, particularly in contrast to the lofty claims of significant interest and “immeasurably deepened” relations.” Official data shows a “noticeable decline” in Chinese investment after it doubled to $221 million in 2014. The document notes that since 2015, China has not even been among the top 10 investors in Georgia, according to statistics from 2011 to 2022.
Later on the same day that the letter was published, Speaker Shalva Papuashvili criticized Tinatin Khidasheli, accusing her of presenting herself as a China expert while using “hostile rhetoric” toward the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Papuashvili noted that Khidasheli’s organization is funded by the Taiwanese NGO Taiwan Foundation for Democracy, which he said suggested a deliberate effort to stir up anti-Chinese sentiment in Georgia.
Papuashvili urged the media to question Khidasheli about her position on the territorial integrity of the PRC and her views on Taiwan, given Civic IDEA’s source of funding. He expressed concern that Khidasheli, a former Defense Minister with access to classified information, was involved in “lobbying Taiwan and funding from an unrecognized state,” posing a potential national security risk that “requires the attention of the appropriate authorities.”
During the interview, Papuashvili also stressed “the importance” of the dropped “Foreign Agents Law,” which aimed to register foreign-funded NGOs and media organizations as “agents of foreign influence. He claimed that cases like Khidasheli’s were exactly what they [ruling GD authorities] had in mind when proposing the law in February 2023, because “NGOs are used by foreign subjects to influence domestic politics”.
On January 20, Papuashvili addressed the importance of Sino-Georgian relations at a press briefing in which he criticized NGOs in Georgia. He reiterated concerns about politicians deeply involved in the NGO sector engaging in political propaganda, specifically pointing to Civic IDEA, among others.
Papuashvili stated: “Georgia’s interest is the Middle Corridor, the Silk Road, … and we have an opportunity to use this corridor right now. The goods moving between China and Europe should pass through Georgia. The people who oppose this serve the interests of those who are funding and are behind these people. It is a fact that all those who stir up anti-Chinese sentiments in Georgia aim to disrupt the projects of the strategic importance of Georgia, to turn Georgia into a dead-end and not a corridor.”
Other MPs from the ruling GD party joined in, lashing out at what they called the “anti-state nature of Civic IDEA’s activities.” Over the next three days the pro-government media covered the topic extensively, including a 14-minute segment on TV Imedi, criticizing Civic IDEA and discussing the PRC’s future involvement in Georgia, including in projects such as the new international airport and the Anaklia deep-sea port.
Civic IDEA notes that it has repeatedly pointed out the Georgian government’s “lack of due diligence” in dealing with the PRC, criticizing procurement policies that favor discredited Chinese companies that “fail to complete projects on time and within budgets approved initially.”
The statement by the non-governmental organization states, that the brief, that caused the criticism of the Speaker relies “solely on statistical data without additional explanations or interpretations” and claims the criticism is aimed at “discrediting our work”.
The organization views the recent attacks on its activities as a preemptive measure before the government announces larger strategic projects. The organization stresses the suspicious nature of the “the intensity of back and forth communication by the government and Parliament representatives with Beijing”, especially in the context of the potential involvement of China in the Anaklia project.
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