Xi Jinping’s visit to Hungary: Between ‘convergence of views on Russian offensive’ and Winnie the Pooh costumes

After Paris and Belgrade, Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday, on the last leg of his European tour, paid tribute to the strength of his country’s ties with Hungary, with flourishing economic cooperation and a convergence of views on the Russian offensive in Ukraine, according to AFP .

After attending a military parade alongside Hungarian head of state Tamas Sulyok, Xi was due to meet Viktor Orban at the Carmelite Monastery, the prime minister’s residence, and make a press statement.

For this visit, described by Budapest as “historic”, the capital, dressed in the colors of China, was placed under increased security, and the few flags flown by the Tibetan demonstrators were carefully hidden from the eyes of the Chinese president.

“Xi Jinping praised Sino-Hungarian relations as being at the peak of their 75-year history,” according to a report by Chinese authorities.

Before his arrival, he compared them to a “golden cruise” in an article published in the pro-government newspaper Magyar Nemzet.

“Together we defied the geopolitical order in an unstable international context,” he wrote, charting our course “as sovereign states in full independence.”

China, the biggest investor in Hungary

An allusion to Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s strategy of going it alone within the European Union.

While battling Brussels, the populist leader has turned resolutely eastward in recent years. And while Brussels has distanced itself from Beijing, it has forged closer ties, rejecting the ideological confrontation of the “blocs”.

This visit, which lasts almost three days, is an opportunity to “take our strategic partnership to new heights”, according to the Chinese head of state, from cultural exchanges to economic cooperation, as the Asian superpower last year became the largest Hungarian investor.

For Viktor Orban, this is a diplomatic success. Xi Jinping’s choice to visit Paris and Budapest within the EU “shows the importance that Hungary is gaining on the international stage”, welcomed his chief of staff, Gergely Gulyas.

Budapest has already announced the signing of at least 16 agreements in the sectors of rail and road infrastructure, nuclear power and automobiles.

Across the country, battery and electric car factories are developing at an impressive pace, with investments of tens of billions of euros.

This has raised concerns among the opposition, which has denounced a lack of transparency around contracts, the factories’ environmental impact and corruption, with construction enriching what it says is “Orban’s circle”.

Demonstration against Xi Jinping in Budapest (Photo: FERENC ISZA / AFP / Profimedia)

Message to the EU

On Monday, Xi Jinping was welcomed to the Elysée Palace in Paris, where he had “frank” talks with French President Emmanuel Macron about trade disputes between China and Europe and ties between Beijing and Moscow, viewed with suspicion by the West amid the war in Ukraine .

But during this latest stopover in Hungary, the press was kept on the sidelines and there were no controversial topics.

Beijing and Budapest are on the same page, advocating for a peaceful settlement in Ukraine while staying close to the Kremlin.

Xi Jinping likes to highlight this European ally, and his visit “symbolizes China’s efforts to establish a dissenting voice in talks with the EU and weaken the bloc’s unity,” according to Claus Soong, an analyst at the Mercator Institute in Berlin.

On the outskirts of the Carmelite monastery, many sunglasses-wearing tourists were stunned by the massive security presence, with police blocking access to the site.

“The Prince of China is here,” smiled an Israeli visitor, disappointed that he couldn’t ride the funicular up to Buda Castle.

In nearby streets, a handful of protesters donned Winnie the Pooh costumes, with the Chinese leader often mocked for his physical resemblance, some say, to the famous honey-loving cartoon character, according to AFP.