China’s Xi Visits Europe As Washington Fears Divisions Among Western Allies
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
PARIS/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – China’s President Xi Jinping arrived in Paris on Sunday for his first European trip in five years aimed at countries that seek to loosen Europe’s bonds with the United States and end the U.S. dominance in the world.
Besides France, Xi will visit Hungary and Serbia, which have forged closer ties with Russia, a key partner of China, and Beijing.
For Hungary’s nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orbán meeting, Xi sends a message to the European Union that he can turn Eastwards if Brussels continues its sanctions over his perceived authoritarian policies and rule-of-law concerns.
Hungary is still awaiting tens of billions of euros in European funding, with Orbán saying he has been punished for his pro-Christian, anti-migration policies.
With Europe not providing the cash to shore up its economy, Hungary has closed controversial deals with Communist-run China, including battery plants that the opposition says harm the environment and railway investments.
Additionally, Hungary’s government has invited Chinese police to patrol the streets, despite concerns they could be used to control the 30,000 Chinese living in Budapest, one of the largest Chinese communities in Central and Eastern Europe.
Orbán, who has ruled Hungary firmly uninterrupted over the last 14 years, also favors setting up a Chinese universum in Budapest, the capital, sidelining critics who fear it could become a center for espionage.
RUSSIAN TIES
Like China, Hungary also maintains close ties with Russia, which invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
Beijing has made clear it wants to intensify with strategically located European Union member Hungary and neighboring Serbia, which seeks EU membership but is increasingly drifting away from the West towards China and Russia.
Analysts say that while Brussels complains about China’s “no limits” embrace of Russia despite the war in Ukraine, its surveillance state, and its apparent espionage activities that led to the recent arrest in Germany of four people — Xi wants to demonstrate China’s growing influence on the continent.
He also shares views in France, Hungary, and Serbia to look beyond the United States-backed world order, with China rapidly outpacing the U.S. economy.
As he arrived in Paris on Sunday, Xi said Chinese-French relations “have established a model for the international community of peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation between countries with different social systems.”
For Europe, the visit will test its delicate balancing act between China and the United States.
Washington is concerned that it is another attempt by Beijing to divide Western allies.
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