Xi Jinping Celebrates ‘Deep Friendship’ with Orbán’s Hungary Ahead of Visit

Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban at the Great
Rao Aimin/Xinhua via Getty Images
Frances Martel

Genocidal Chinese dictator Xi Jinping published an article on Wednesday in the Hungarian newspaper Magyar Nemzet celebrating Beijing’s ties to Budapest, emphasizing what he called a “deep friendship” with the leadership of the country.

Xi is expected to hold meetings in Hungary on Thursday with the senior leadership of the country, including President Tamas Sulyok and Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. Orbán has for years presented himself as a champion of anti-leftist politics in Europe and a staunch anti-communist – he declared his 2022 electoral victory a win against “the international left” – but his foreign policy has been enthusiastically favorable towards China, the world’s largest and wealthiest communist country.

The Chinese government revealed upon announcing Xi’s visit that the Chinese dictator would travel to Hungary at Orbán’s request.

Hungary is the last leg in a European tour that began on Sunday in France. There, Xi held an extended meeting focusing largely on trade with French President Emmanuel Macron and the president of the European Union, Ursula von der Leyen. He then traveled to Serbia on Tuesday, where he was hosted by President Aleksandar Vučić.

All three countries maintain close ties to China. France’s relationship with China has been somewhat strained by Macron’s effusive support for Ukraine following the full-scale invasion of the country by one of China’s closest allies, Russia, but Xi and Macron only mentioned the issue in passing this week. Serbia is one of Russia’s closest allies, while Hungary has attempted to straddle the line between Russia and the greater West. The government draped Belgrade in large Chinese flags this week to honor Xi.

In the article published on Wednesday, Xi emphasized his personal affinity for Orbán and the “similar views and positions on international and regional situations” that allegedly connect China and Hungary. Xi urged Hungarian leaders to continue to support China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a sprawling global infrastructure plan in which China ensnares poorer countries in predatory loans, and celebrated the expansion of China’s Confucius Institutes in Hungarian academia.

China advertises “Confucius Institutes” as centers offering a platform for international academics to engage with Chinese culture and history. In reality, the institutes are used to expand the Chinese Communist Party’s influence in academic institutions and silence anti-communist dissent.

“Over the past 15 years, I have met with visiting Hungarian leaders on many occasions. We have forged a deep friendship,” Xi wrote. “I very much look forward to returning to your country to renew our friendship and work with my friends on a new blueprint for China-Hungary relations and cooperation in the new era.”

Xi demanded Hungary and China “firmly support each other on issues that involve our respective core interests” to create a “strong political guarantee” for the bilateral relationship.

“We respect and treat each other as equals, and pursue mutually beneficial cooperation. We see each other as a priority partner of cooperation,” Xi affirmed.

Xi concluded with an appeal to the allegedly similar ideologies of his government and Orbán’s.

“China and Hungary have similar views and positions on international and regional situations,” the dictator wrote. “It is important that we stay committed to solidarity and collaboration, champion humanity’s common values of peace, development, fairness, justice, democracy and freedom, and practice true multilateralism.”

“We should advocate an equal and orderly multipolar world and a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization, endeavor continuously to build a community with a shared future for mankind, and inject more positive energy into safeguarding world peace and promoting common development,” Xi asserted.

The Hungarian government previewed Xi’s visit on Monday, revealing that Budapest planned to sign at least 16 agreements with Xi on infrastructure, energy, and transport. According to Bloomberg News, the plan includes a significant expansion of the BRI “to include further rail, road and energy projects.

The Belt and Road is at the core of Xi’s relationship with Hungary. The last time he met with Orbán was in October, when the Hungarian leader traveled to Beijing for the Belt and Road Forum. Orbán used the opportunity to condemn calls for “any decoupling and breakage of supply and industrial chains” from China.

Hungary has also been courting Chinese automakers, through Budapest has dismissed reports of specific new investments from Chinese electric vehicle company Great Wall Motor as “premature.” The Chinese car company BYD is already in progress building a plant in Hungary to manufacture cars for consumption throughout Europe.

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