Civicidea

Tina Khidasheli, who served as Georgian defence minister in a Georgian Dream-led government in 2015-2016, attended Tuesday’s protest against her former government colleagues and said she expected the demonstrators to win eventually.

“The government is just prolonging the inevitable. We might have serious problems, but at the end of the day, the people will go home with victory,” she told Reuters.

Link 👉 https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/georgian-parliament-vote-foreign-agent-bill-second-reading-2024-04-30

On February 8, 2024, the chairperson of “Civic IDEA” – Tinatin Khidasheli participated in the annual international conference of the Institute for the Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) – Good Governance Forum 2024.

Within the framework of the forum, discussions were held on the following issues: fight against corruption: institutional reforms, comprehensive approaches and political will; Prevention of organized crime and combating money laundering; public administration reform; gender mainstreaming of good governance reforms; Innovative mechanisms for fighting corruption and improving competition: innovations in public procurement and transparency standards for beneficial owners; Open Government Partnership (OGP) initiative, etc.
Tinatin Khidasheli moderated the following panel – Fighting Corruption: Institutional Reforms, Holistic Measures and Political Will.

Panelists:

• Ms. Rusudan Mikheladze – Head of the Monitoring Programme, Anti-corruption Network at OECD
• Ms. Sarah Rupert –  Director, International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL), U.S. Embassy, Tbilisi, Georgia
• Mr. Nicholas Aiossa –  Director, Transparency International EU
• Mr. Gizo Uglava – First Deputy Director of the National Anti-corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU)
• Ms. Tatiana Khutor –  Chairwoman, Institute of Legislative Ideas, Ukraine
• Ms. Eka Gigauri – Executive Director, Transparency International Georgia/TI Global Secretariat/OGP Steering Committee Member

Moderator – Ms. Tinatin Khidasheli, Chairperson, Civic IDEA

The panel discussion is available at: 👇

The dangerous illusion of the Georgian Dream’s “multi-vectoral” foreign policy

„Civic IDEA” is responding to Prime Minister Kobakhidze’s statement, wherein he paralleled Georgia’s partnership with the United States of America and the People’s Republic of China. Kobakhidze acknowledged perceived weaknesses in recent Georgian-American relations, attributing them to the American side while highlighting China’s increasing economic interests in Georgia. This statement aligns with experts’ views on the decline of Georgian-American relations under Georgian Dream’s governance. However, Kobakhidze proposed enhancing cooperation with China as a potential solution.

Facts Only:

• The US-Georgian strategic partnership is strengthened by the Strategic Partnership Charter.

• We have only a joint statement regarding the Sino-Georgia strategic partnership, which represents neither agreement nor binds the PRC in any way toward Georgia.

• The preservation of Georgia’s territorial integrity and its non-recognition policy heavily relies on foreign policy backing from the US and the EU.

• In contrast, the PRC has consistently withheld support for the crucial UN resolutions concerning the occupation of Georgian territories.

• Georgia’s Defense and Security Sector and its national system for deterring Russian aggression predominantly and almost entirely depend on the United States’ political, financial, and professional support.

• Despite the ongoing aggression in Ukraine, China remains a strategic partner of Russia, thereby effectively endorsing the aggressor’s occupation policies.

• Following Russia’s aggression in 2008, the United States played a pivotal role as the primary advocate, donor, and lobbyist in rallying support. This support helped rescue the country from the humanitarian, economic, and financial crises resulting from the war, thereby ensuring its stability.

• Following the Russian aggression in 2008, when the resolution on the Status of IDPs and refugees from Abkhazia and the Tskhinvali region/South Ossetia was adopted in 2009, the PRC abstained from voting. Disappointingly, in 2022, after Russia invaded Ukraine, the country voted against the resolution along with Russia.

• Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, when small economies faced particular peril, American assistance programs remained steadfast without interruption, while China’s already modest investment package declined, falling below zero.

We believe the Prime Minister’s statement overlooks Georgia’s security and foreign policy priorities in favor of internal political party interests, driven by foreign policy populism and a failure to acknowledge the evident disparity in support for Georgia’s national interests between the United States and China.

After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, on the backdrop of the erosion of European security architecture, the Georgian government chose a policy of strategic ambiguity. On one side, it expresses a desire to join Western institutions under pressure exerted by citizens, while on the other, it enhances trade and economic ties with Russia while pursuing a strategic partnership with China.

Abstract clichés of international relations cannot be used as a legitimizer of the mentioned foreign policy behavior. Mr. Kobakhidze’s statement that he seeks “to [equally] deepen the strategic partnership both with the United States of America and China.”, in the best case, is a naive wish to paint the desired as reality and in the worst case, evil populism sold to the Georgian population. In the Great Power Competition era, the possibility of equally deepening relations with the US and China is decreasing for any actor, specifically for a relatively smaller country.

The possibility of balancing Russia’s interests in Georgia through China’s influence is even more absurd. Even before the war in Ukraine, China-Russia interaction was based on a cooperation-competition-reciprocity formula, and since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, these two countries have been acting in coordination towards a final revision of the global order, potentially resulting in the disappearance of countries akin to Georgia from the map.

In reality, the country’s sovereignty and security issues serve the Georgian Dream’s party agenda of maintaining power. Unlike Western democracies (which, while cooperating with various countries, are often limited in knowledge of the content of political system), the People’s Republic of China engages with any regime, particularly in countries of the Global South.

Hence, there is no mere chance that as domestic authoritarianism in Georgia has intensified, the Georgian Dream has seen closer ties with China as a vital foreign policy lifeline. This specific example once again proves that the government, left behind an unbalanced institutional control and accountability, represents a tremendous threat to the future of Georgia. In the presence of the Georgian Dream’s uncontrolled majority, there is a high probability that we are left with authoritarianism “legitimized” by the communist party, thereby solidifying both poverty and political elites.

The Civil.ge article “Chinese Companies in Georgia: Sanctions, Delays, and Concerns” references Civic IDEA and its China Watch reports showcasing the misconduct of notorious Chinese companies operating in Georgia’s infrastructure sector, shady dealings with the Georgian business and political elites and threats to national security. 

Below, we offer a brief excerpt from the article mentioning that.

“Civic Idea found several red flags:
China Road and Bridge Corporation – The World Bank has sanctioned the China Road and Bridge Corporation for fraudulent practices in connection with the Philippines’ National Road Improvement and Management Program (NRIMP 1). China State Construction Engineering Corporation – The World Bank blacklisted China State Construction Engineering Corporation Ltd. in the Philippines for its involvement in collusive practices and a corruption scandal involving the Philippine NRIMP 1 Program. In 2020, the Trump administration accused CSCEC of cyber espionage and banned U.S.-registered companies from becoming shareholders in CSCEC. HUNAN ROAD AND BRIDGE CONSTRUCTION GROUP CO LTD – Due to their poor construction, the 328-meter Tuojiang Bridge in China collapsed in 2009. As a result, 64 people died, 22 were injured, and the economic loss reached 39.747 million yuan (about 6 million U.S. dollars). 20 local government officials and HNRB board members were sentenced to 19 years in prison in China for bribery, malfeasance, negligence, and racketeering. In Georgia, the workers complained about poor working conditions and went on strike several times. There were deadly incidents, too, notably in June and August 2023. 
Other concerning companies

The Civic Idea also points to other companies that are not part of the large projects, but whose active involvement in Georgia, they say, should be the cause of concern:

Nuctech Company Limited (serves the borders of Georgia with a scanning system) – In 2009, the European Union accused Nuctech Company Ltd. of dumping and imposed anti-dumping duties on imports of Nuctech scanning systems. In the United States, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) initially banned Nuctech’s equipment in 2014 and, based on its international experience, presented a detailed review of the company’s misdeeds in a secret document, which led to restrictions on its services by various countries. One of the last was Lithuania, whose authorities officially decided in 2021 to ban the supply of Nuctech equipment to three international airports in Lithuania.

CEFC China Energy Co – Ye Jianming, former head of CEFC China Energy Co, was charged in the US in 2017 with several crimes, including bribery. In 2018, the Chinese state investment company took control of CEFC’s foreign assets after Jianming’s disappearance. Despite CEFC officially declaring bankruptcy in 2020, Georgia’s government and courts, allegedly influenced by individuals tied to the businessman Ivane Chkhartishvili and Bidzina Ivanishvili, have not acknowledged the bankruptcy documents. The Poti Free Industrial Zone, owned 75% by CEFC, remains in the company’s possession.”

For more information, please visit 

https://civil.ge/archives/578206?fbclid=IwAR3mLzI2Y_NF6vHllydYcRY4veHGzgZ6ZvAvIv64-Yyj_fu3GBugNK5dQFU

In recent days, the Chairman of the Parliament of Georgia once again attacked representatives of civil society organizations. This time, Civic Idea, Soviet Past Research Laboratory (Sovlab) and Tolerance Center of the Public Defender became the targets of the attack.

Attempts to discredit civil society organizations are taking place amidst the heavy social background, poverty and inflation, which remain the most painful and unsolvable problems for the population under the conditions of the long-term rule of Georgian Dream. Instead of offering a positive agenda to the public ahead of the 2024 parliamentary elections, the authorities are trying to run a negative anti-Western election campaign and mobilize its voters with the false rhetoric of fighting the country’s “enemies”.

It is obvious that another wave of attacks on civil society organizations by the authorities is part of the pre-election political propaganda, repeats one of the main narratives of Russian disinformation and serves the purpose of portraying civil society organizations as enemies. Unfortunately, this is not the first attempt by the ruling party to discredit civil society organizations. The authorities used similar information attack before the 2020 parliamentary elections as well. In the spring of 2023, Georgian Dream unsuccessfully tried to label all civil society organizations receiving international funding as foreign agents by passing a Russian law.

Provoking controversy in the society, using political persecution against specific people or organizations, conducting a hate campaign against them and trying to mobilize their own voters creates the impression that Georgian Dream is trying to achieve its narrow partisan goals at the expense of state interests. Hostile rhetoric towards civil society organizations contradicts both the constitutional values of a democratic state and the demand of the European Union towards taking steps against polarization.

Civil society organizations call on the authorities to stop the targeted hate campaign, to take steps for establishing partnership and business communication with them, and to refuse to instrumentalize polarization in the pre-election campaign. 

Signatory organizations:

Democracy Research Institute
Rights Georgia
Eastern European Center for Multiparty Democracy (EECMD)
Green Alternative
Court Watch
Media Development Foundation (MDF)
Democracy Defenders
Liberal Academy Tbilisi
Soviet Past Research Laboratory (Sovlab)
Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI)
Georgian Young Lawyers Association (GYLA)
Georgian Charter of Journalistic Ethics
Caucasus Open Space (COS)
Center for Media, Information and Social Studies (CMIS)
Human Rights Center
Governance Monitoring Center (GMC)
Europe-Georgia Institute (EGI)
Franklin Club

Doublethink Lab

On Jan. 22, Kremlin-funded Sputnik Georgia published an article quoting ruling Georgian Dream Party MP Mikhail Sarjveladze calling attention to funding links between Taiwan-based civil society organization (CSO) Doublethink Lab (DTL) and the Georgian NGO, Civic IDEA.

The article is one of many in Georgia-focused media suggesting that in receiving funding from Taiwanese organizations, including DTL, Civic IDEA undermined its impartiality and ability to conduct objective research into the People’s Republic of China (PRC)’s relationship with Georgia.

In response, DTL would like to clarify our position and the nature of the relationship, which is limited to engagement around our flagship China Index project quantifying and visualizing PRC influence globally, and a one-off grant for related research.

DTL is devoted to strengthening democratic resilience and resisting digital authoritarianism globally, and as such we independently set and control the nature and direction of our research.

One aspect of DTL’s mission is to conduct research into PRC foreign influence and interference. For example, we are currently running a project to investigate Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (FIMI) in the Indo-Pacific region. The project’s goal is to gather evidence on tactics, techniques, and procedures of FIMI, so that governments and civil society platforms can make informed decisions about the best way to handle the threats and challenges these pose.

Similarly, the China Index aims to provide data-driven insights on vectors of PRC influence, so that policymakers and CSOs can make evidence-based decisions about how to more sustainably manage their relationships with the PRC. The Index also enables stakeholders to compare the scale, nature and impact of PRC influence across regions and between countries, and provides a basis for more in-depth research.

Like many CSOs, we are an independent non-profit organization that sources funding from a diverse range of donors and sectors while taking vigorous steps to maintain the integrity and quality of our methodologies and research processes. This includes ensuring that our funders do not influence our choice of research partners, and choosing not to affiliate with governments or political parties.

In this case, the DTL-coordinated China in the World (CITW) network engaged Civic IDEA as a China Index Regional Partner (RP), covering various Eastern European and Central Asian countries, for two rounds of China Index research, in 2021 and 2023. Civic IDEA also applied via open-call for funding to conduct related. in-depth research for the CITW 2022 Community Fund, and secured a grant to do so from the CITW board.

Through the China Index, we have worked with more than 200 such individuals and institutions — RPs and their local experts involved in gathering data on PRC influence in their regions.

DTL initially selected Civic IDEA to be a China Index RP because of the outstanding quality of their work, and their expertise in studying foreign influence operations, principally those of Russia and the PRC, in the South Caucasus and Central Asia. For the forthcoming (second) iteration of the China Index, Civic IDEA again responded to the open call for RPs and was selected for similar reasons.

Civic IDEA’s anti-corruption research related to PRC companies’ activities in Georgia, particularly following the signing of a strategic partnership between the two countries in July 2023, is of critical importance to understanding the nature of PRC influence, and specifically funding allocation decisions made by Georgia’s current government and ruling party.

While DTL plays no part in funding this endeavor, we wish Civic IDEA and its partners every success in conducting their research, and continuing to advocate for stricter scrutiny and due diligence around the Georgian government’s dealings with PRC entities.

Further information on China Index methodology can be found on the China Index website and via this introductory video.

About Doublethink Lab

Established in 2019, Doublethink Lab (Doublethink) is a civil society organization devoted to strengthening democratic resilience and resisting digital authoritarianism. Doublethink’s strengths lie in the ability to combine a diverse set of research approaches in the social, behavioral, and computational sciences to study state-funded propaganda campaigns, psychological warfare, and related information operations. As coordinator of the China in the World (CITW) network, Doublethink seeks to foster cross-regional collaboration between academics, democracy movements, digital communities, like-minded CSOs, and experts on the People’s Republic of China. Its flagship project is the China Index.

About China In The World (CITW)

In 2019, Doublethink Lab and partners established the China In The World (CITW) network to support and unite stakeholders researching the People’s Republic of China (PRC)’s global influence, improve cross-regional awareness of related challenges, and strengthen democratic resilience worldwide. The network coordinates publication of the China Index, the first global initiative to measure and compare the PRC’s influence in various countries.

Link 👇

https://medium.com/doublethinklab/dtl-statement-in-response-to-georgian-dream-party-mp-statement-regarding-funding-for-civic-idea-44a92b9beddb