Xi’s European Tour Sparks Tension Between China and Allies

As Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Hungary’s capital on Thursday for meetings with local officials, tensions between Beijing and some of its European partners came to the forefront. Numerous Chinese and Hungarian officials attended the ceremonial welcome, including Hungary’s populist leader Viktor Orbán, who has strengthened ties with China while distancing himself from other members of the European Union (EU). Xi arrived in Hungary after stops in Serbia and France, and is expected to discuss potential Chinese investments in Hungary’s infrastructure, energy, and electric vehicle manufacturing sectors. Beijing has already invested heavily in Hungary, viewing the EU member as a strategic foothold within the larger trading bloc. In December, China’s BYD announced plans to build its first European electric vehicle production facility in southern Hungary, a move that could disrupt the continent’s automotive industry. Hungary is also hosting multiple Chinese-owned electric vehicle battery factories and is developing a rail connection between the country and the Chinese-controlled port of Piraeus in Greece, which will serve as a gateway for Chinese goods into Central and Eastern Europe. Both governments have remained tight-lipped about the specifics of these potential deals, but media reports suggest that China may also invest further in Hungary’s railway network. Speaking at a press conference, Orbán’s chief of staff Gergely Gulyás confirmed that Xi and Orbán would reveal specific agreements later on Thursday, without providing further details. Hungary’s foreign minister previously said that at least 16 accords would be finalized during Xi’s visit. Protesters gathered throughout Budapest to demonstrate in support of or against the Chinese leader’s visit, with some Hungarian lawmakers alleging that Chinese officials tried to prevent them from placing EU flags along Xi’s motorcade route. In a video obtained by The Associated Press, a Hungarian legislator claimed that a group of Chinese volunteers intimidated him and his colleague when they tried to hang EU flags on a bridge. The men, all wearing red baseball caps, warned them that there should not be any Tibetan or Taiwanese flags displayed, as this would not be “nice”. They allowed the legislators to proceed only after they saw that the flags were those of the EU. This incident highlights the growing tensions between some European countries and Beijing, as well as China’s efforts to influence political discourse abroad. A state-run Chinese newspaper recently accused the chatbot ChatGPT of potentially aiding the US government in spreading misinformation and manipulating global narratives. These developments add to the mounting evidence of China’s increasing ambitions to develop technologically self-reliant artificial intelligence (AI) systems, as per orders issued by President Xi Jinping.