China has offered a huge loan to Hungary to build a branch of Shanghai Fudan University in Budapest. The plan has drawn fierce criticism from both the left and right-wing opposition there. Some analysts believe that China is adopting some of the same strategies as Russia to expand its influence in Eastern Europe and among EU and NATO members.
China ‘generously’ spends money to build higher education institutions in Hungary
The Hungarian Ministry of Innovation and Science announced on February 10 that Hungary and China have signed documents to jointly establish Fudan Hungarian University in the capital Budapest, which will offer teaching in a wide range of subjects such as medicine, engineering, economics and international relations, as well as create a world-class research center. This will be the first time that a Chinese higher education institution will operate abroad. Hungarian officials expect that the related projects will help Hungary become a regional knowledge center.
The Fudan University branch is considered to be the largest investment project in the Hungarian education sector in recent decades. The Hungarian media outlet DIREKT36 published a lengthy investigative report on April 6, based on government documents obtained, revealing many details about the project. The report was subsequently republished and quoted by many media outlets.
According to the combined reports, the Budapest Fudan University campus is scheduled to open in 2024 and will receive 6,000 students and 5,000 professors. The total investment in this project is up to 1.5 billion euros, of which China will provide Hungary with a loan of 1.25 billion euros and Hungary itself will contribute 279 million euros. The school will be built by China Construction Group, using Chinese construction materials and Chinese workers. Local media say the Chinese state-owned construction giant has been linked to a number of corruption and espionage scandals.
Fear of falling into a debt trap, Chinese espionage and influence will be more convenient
The Fudan University project in Budapest will be a landmark event for China’s expanding influence in Europe. Local media say that many teachers, researchers and students with Communist Party membership will enter Hungary in this covert way, and that their loyalty to the party will take precedence over academic freedom, and that official Chinese influence in Hungary will further increase.
The sheer amount of investment in this project even exceeds all Hungarian spending on the higher education system for the whole of 2019. Local public opinion therefore also fears that taxpayers will be saddled with a heavy burden and that Hungary could fall into the Chinese debt trap.
Both left-wing and right-wing Hungarian opposition forces are alarmed by this move by the authorities. The main opposition Hungarian Socialist Party says this project with China is being implemented especially in the context of the Orbán government’s expulsion of the Central European University from Hungary. The Central European University, backed by American financier Soros, has now moved to Vienna. Soros is a fierce critic of Hungarian Prime Minister Orbán.
A statement issued by the Hungarian Socialist Party said that the Fudan University branch project would not bring any benefits to the Hungarian economy, while China would instead build a Chinese higher education school in Hungary.
The mayor of the capital is fiercely opposed to it, warning against the cancellation of the 2023 World Athletics Championships
The mayor of Budapest, Karachonyi, the leader of the left-wing Hungarian Green Party “Dialogue”, expressed his opposition in various ways, including through Facebook and an open letter to Orban’s office. Karachonyi said that the Fudan University campus will become a tool for Chinese political influence in Europe and the activities of Chinese security intelligence agencies in Europe and Hungary.
The Hungarian opposition fears that the Fudan University branch, to be built in Budapest’s 9th district, could replace the University City project, which was planned for the 9th district with 8,000 dormitories. The University City project was already designed several years ago by a Norwegian architect firm.
The leader of Hungary’s Jobbik movement, a right-wing party representing nationalist forces, has also called on the Orbán government to support the University City project more than the construction of a Fudan University branch, as Hungary is currently facing a mass migration of young people.
Budapest Mayor Karachonyi warned that the city will cancel hosting the 2023 World Athletics Championships if the Orbán government replaces the university city with the Fudan University branch project.
Caraccioni said he hoped that the University City project would be more important to Orbán’s government than the Fudan University branch project, which would bring political and economic benefits to China and privileges to the Chinese security apparatus.
The mayor of Budapest’s 9th district also sent a message saying that doing business should be a win-win situation for both sides and that not all the dividends should go to China, leaving Hungary with only debt.
Prime Minister Orbán’s press office organized a press conference on April 8, stressing that the Fudan University branch and the university city project are not contradictory, saying that the Fudan University branch will be “one of the best universities in the world”.
Eastern European strongman Orbán is pro-Beijing and pro-Moscow
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, a strongman in European politics, has been criticized in recent years in the fields of media freedom and human rights. Orbán’s government is also known for being pro-Moscow and pro-Beijing.
Hungary currently uses a lot of Chinese and Russian vaccines, making it one of the countries in the European Union with a high vaccination rate. But the opposition has criticized the Orbán government for overpaying for respirators and other medical equipment from China last year during the epidemic.
While many European and Western countries have been wary of Chinese telecom giant Huawei, Huawei’s activities in Hungary have been like a fish out of water. Huawei also opened a new research and development center in Hungary last fall.
When China began the trial of two Canadian citizens not long ago, Canadian, U.S. and British diplomats and more than 20 European Union countries in China went outside the courtroom to show their support. But Hungarian diplomats in Beijing did not attend the event.
Hungary-Serbia railroad, China invests heavily again
Hungary and China also signed a loan agreement a year ago regarding the Budapest and Belgrade railroad reconstruction project. Hungarian Finance Minister Varga said at the time that Chinese goods disembarked from Greece could reach Hungary from Serbia via the railroad and that Hungary would thus be able to become a European logistics center.
The project is planned to invest $2.1 billion, with 85% of the loan provided by China and the remaining 15% financed by Hungary. A Chinese company, as well as a Hungarian consortium controlled by a Hungarian billionaire, is responsible for the construction of the project. The media reported that the billionaire is a close friend and childhood friend of Prime Minister Orban. Hungary has also enacted special legislation for this purpose, guaranteeing that the details of the Budapest-Belgrade rail project will not be made public.
Focusing on key Eastern European countries Economic and trade humanities is the breakthrough
Hungary and Serbia are considered to be two important support points for China in the Balkans and Central and Eastern Europe and the main springboard into the European hinterland. The importance of these two countries to China has grown significantly at a time when relations between some Eastern European countries and China are getting colder. Unlike Serbia, however, Hungary is a member of both the European Union and NATO.
Iskenderov, a Russian scholar on Eastern Europe and the Balkans, said that while some Eastern European countries that are members of NATO have to maintain strategic alignment with the U.S., Germany and France in the security sphere, they have a lot of autonomy and room to maneuver in other areas such as economic, trade and humanistic cooperation, which gives China and Russia the opportunity to operate in Eastern Europe, and both countries’ strategies are therefore similar.
Iskenderov said, “Russia’s approach is the same, using economic and trade cooperation as a breakthrough to develop relations with some Eastern European countries, putting aside military and security topics first and not letting them interfere with economic and trade cooperation.”
Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe visited four countries – Hungary, Serbia, Greece and North Macedonia – late last month. All three countries are members of NATO except for Serbia.
Recent Comments