China is building the European campus of its Shanghai-based Fudan University. Most Hungarians opposed the plan and anger is growing against their Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
 |
| [Budapest,Hungary/Pexels] |
Hungarian taxpayers are enraged by a new cooperation between Beijing and Budapest, which would impose a 1 billion euro financial burden on them.
China's Shanghai-based Fudan University is constructing a European campus. Not only will the bill be paid by Hungarians, but no local contractors will be allowed to work on the project.
The initiative was opposed by the majority of Hungarians, who are increasingly angry with Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
Thousands of people have gathered to the streets of Budapest, Hungary's capital, to protest their government's support for an authoritarian dictatorship.
More than 10,000 students were intended to live in the area behind this barrier in Budapest. The aim to construct inexpensive dormitories, particularly for those from rural Hungary.
 |
| [Chinese university plan in Budapest/DW] |
The foundation for a number of projects, including a new sporting stadium, has been laid. However, the government has agreed to enable China to construct the first European campus of Shanghai's Fudan University on the location.
The Chinese campus will be supported by a 1.3 billion Euro loan paid for by Hungarian taxpayers, according to government papers obtained by the Hungarian investigative media site Direct36.
Other troubling ramifications for the project, according to the journalist who wrote the story. "Hungary's increasing connections with China provide a conducive climate for Chinese intelligence," Szabolcs Poyni adds. "There's a rising number of Chinese students flooding into the nation," he told the DW, "and China is infamous for utilizing its residents, forcing them to supply information to Chinese intelligence." As a result, the more China's footprint in Hungary, the greater the risk of espionage.
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has publicly pursued an eastern opening plan in the aim of luring Chinese investment on multiple trips with his Chinese counterpart over the last decade.
Orban personally examined tons of protective equipment that had arrived at the Budapest Airport from China at the start of the COVID-19 outbreak.
Hungary is also the only EU country to have given the Chinese COVID vaccination to its population. China recently blocked a joint EU declaration expressing alarm over China's growing grip over Hong Kong.
All of these are mostly advantageous to China. The campus, for example, will be constructed with Chinese labor and materials imported from China. And the Eastern Opening Strategy is not popular in Hungary.
Gergely Karácsony, the mayor of Budapest, is a vocal opponent of Orban. In his own unique way, he has demonstrated his opposition to what he refers to as Chinese influence purchasing.
Now, two-thirds of Hungarians oppose the pact, and the majority of them are demonstrating in Budapest. And this demonstration is bolstering Mayor Koracsony's bid for Prime Minister in the next election.