CAPS Representatives Presented Their Research at the International Lodz East Asia Meeting Conference in Poland

Members of the Centre for Asia-Pacific Studies (CAPS), Dr. Jan Železný and Dr. Zdeněk Rod, represented CEVRO University at the 19th Lodz East Asia Meeting (LEAM), an international conference organised by the Department of Asian Studies at the Faculty of International and Political Studies of the University of Lodz, Poland.

CAPS Director Dr. Jan Železný, together with his colleague Dr. Elżbieta Pron from the University of Silesia in Katowice, presented the findings of their research on China–Kazakhstan cooperation in the space sector. Their study examined the scope, depth, and nature of bilateral cooperation and analysed how it fits into the broader foreign policy and geopolitical strategies of both countries. Applying the concept of heterarchy, they placed the policies of Beijing and Astana within a wider framework of power relations, explained the role of space programmes in advancing the national interests of both states, and identified the principal areas of bilateral cooperation.

From the Chinese perspective, the research focused on the Space Silk Road, a component of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The authors demonstrated that Kazakhstan serves as China's principal partner in the strategically important Central Asian region. Bilateral cooperation centres on scientific research, personnel exchanges, the adoption of China's BeiDou Navigation Satellite System, and Kazakhstan's participation in the prestigious International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) project, which aims to establish a permanent research base on the Moon.

The study concludes that Kazakhstan has become an important partner for China within the Global South, although cooperation remains relatively limited despite increasing engagement between private-sector actors in both countries in recent years. For Kazakhstan, China represents an important partner within its multivector foreign policy, facilitating domestic development, technology transfer, and stronger links with other Global South countries. Most importantly, cooperation with China enables Astana to balance Russian influence through hedging strategies. At the same time, Kazakhstan continues its longstanding cooperation with Russia through the Baiterek programme, which focuses on the modernisation of the Baikonur Cosmodrome. Consistent with the concept of heterarchy, Kazakhstan also plays a significant role within European space systems. The full study will be published in the prestigious Asian Perspective, an American–Korean academic journal published by Johns Hopkins University and Kyungnam University.

Meanwhile, Dr. Zdeněk Rod, Head of Research at CAPS, presented online his research project conducted at CEVRO University, which examines the evolution of Czech foreign policy towards the Indo-Pacific between 1993 and 2025. The project seeks to determine whether the Czech Republic has primarily strengthened relations with pro-Western democratic partners or whether the ideological orientation of successive governments has played only a marginal role, with engagement being driven predominantly by pragmatic national interests.

Dr. Rod classified individual governments (together with the overlapping presidential administrations) into three categories: value-oriented (emphasising democracy, human rights, and the rule of law), pragmatic (prioritising trade and national interests), or mixed. He subsequently applied this analytical framework to a comprehensive dataset covering 40 countries, four Indo-Pacific subregions, and 516 coded foreign policy outputs, including official documents, high-level visits, joint declarations, and participation in regional initiatives.

The preliminary findings suggest that pragmatism has been a prominent feature of Czech foreign policy. On the one hand, the Czech Republic maintains strong relations with democratic partners such as Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and India, while also developing substantial trade ties with these countries. On the other hand, although diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China have largely stagnated, China continues to dominate the Czech Republic's trade with the Indo-Pacific region. At the same time, Prague has strengthened its strategic partnership with Vietnam, accompanied by steadily growing bilateral trade.

Overall, the research indicates that Czech foreign policy towards the Indo-Pacific has lacked long-term coherence over the past three decades and has been only partially shaped by ideological considerations, with its orientation depending largely on the government in office. For example, the previous government led by Petr Fiala adopted a distinctly value-based approach, particularly in its policy towards Taiwan, whereas the first and second governments of Andrej Babiš pursued a considerably more pragmatic foreign policy. These differing approaches have naturally been reflected in the Czech Republic's engagement with its partners across the Indo-Pacific region.