Hungary And China Strengthen Ties, Will Build Chinese University In Budapest
May 4, 2021–As tensions rise between China and the West, one European Union-member country is drawing ever closer to Asia’s Red Dragon: Hungary.
Situated between seven countries in Central Europe, Hungary is a key outpost of the 27-member European Union. Lately, however, the country appears to be falling out with its European allies and drawing closer to communist China.
Hungary Leaning East
In March, Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban broke with the rest of the EU consensus on COVID-19 by ordering China’s Sinopharm and Russia’s Sputnik V vaccines. Later that month, Hungary’s President Janos Ader met with his Chinese leaders in Budapest and promised to strengthen relations with China on trade, economics, tourism and military affairs.
Orban is a populist, nationalist leader of the right-wing Fidesz party. He’s considered a Euroskeptic who opposes Brussels’ policies on immigration and asylum. Earlier this year, he brokered a coalition between his party and the center-right European People’s party. It was a move political analysts like the Financial Times’ Tony Barber viewed as symbolic of a larger rift between eastern and western Europe.
Last month when the European Union seemed poised to criticize China over its security law over Hong Kong, Hungary stood in its way. It blocked the EU from releasing a statement. Incidentally, it is that security law that gives China powers “to shape life in Hong Kong it has never had before,” as the BBC says.
China is taking notice and is praising its European friend for its loyalty.
In a phone call between China’s President Xi Jinping and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, the two leaders discussed their “resilient and dynamic bilateral relationship.” According to China’s Foreign Ministry, Xi “appreciates Hungary for its firm adherence to a friendly policy towards China, as well as its significant contributions to advancing cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European countries, and safeguarding the overall China-Europe relations.”
Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe Meets With Hungary President Janos Ader 
China and Hungary strengthen economic, military, trade and educational ties.
Strategic Agreement Signed: Fudan University in Budapest
Last week the two countries added meat to their diplomatic ties. Hungary signed a Strategic Cooperation Agreement with Shanghai-based Fudan University.
The seven-page agreement establishes the conditions for building a 66-acre (26 hectare) Hungarian-Chinese university along the Eastern banks of the Danube River in Budapest.
The Fudan Hungary University will promote joint research and educational projects, serve 6,000 students and employ up to 600 faculty and staff. Its research and training will focus on specific areas, including:
- economic strategies and management “in the new era” of globalization;
- international studies, geopolitics and Chinese culture;
- data science, artificial intelligence and big-data for decision-making;
- pharmaceutical and medical science;
- communication engineers and media institutions worldwide; and
- vehicle engineers and transportation.
The list of research areas gives a sense of areas that the parties view as being competitively significant.
Critics Cite Massive Loan, Construction Details As Problems
The agreement and the warming relations have its opponents in Hungary and in Europe. According to the Associated Press writer Justin Spike, “critics say the massive investment places an undue financial burden on Hungarian taxpayers and shows Orban’s warming ties with autocracies in Moscow and Beijing.”
A Hungarian investigative journalism center called Direkt36 takes aim at the plan’s estimated cost of €1.5 billion financed by a Chinese loan. Furthermore, the center says the government is expected to award the bid for building the site to China’s state-owned construction company.
Democratic Values Slipping Away
It is interesting to see Hungary draw closer to China, Russia and Turkey. In some ways, the country is simultaneously slipping further away from Western democratic values. The former communist country underwent a transition to democracy in 1989.
Today its government is a parliamentary republic serving its 9 million citizens. Lately, however, Hungary appears to be reflecting shadows of its past.
The government consolidated its grip on universities, news outlets, and cultural institutions. In February, the government pulled the country’s last remaining independent radio station off the air. Hungary’s media council had refused to renew Budapest’s Klubradio broadcast’s license, citing “regulatory offenses,” according to Deutsche Welle.
The question is, how long will it take before the EU pushes back?
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