How and why China is electrified for Orban
What the Chinese press writes about Orban's trip to China
What is Orban going to do in China? Although there are numerous opinions circulating in the media about the meaning of the Hungarian prime minister's diplomatic blitz, it is perhaps more useful to turn to the Chinese press, so faithful in reporting the single party line, to answer the crucial question behind this trip: cui prodest?
THE PRAGMATIC ORBAN ACCORDING TO BEIJING
A long article in the Global Times , the English-language edition of the People's Daily and therefore the official voice of the communist leadership, its positions and its feelings, sets the record straight on the true objectives of Orban's Chinese visit.
It is necessary to have a certain familiarity with the rhetorical strategies of Chinese propaganda to grasp the implications of the passage with which the article opens underlining that, according to "some Chinese experts", the "shuttle diplomacy (of Orban) could help to amplify some pragmatic voices within the EU”.
ELECTRIC CAR DOSSIER
This was a consolidated practice to emphasize the concepts that are dear to the Party. In this case the concept is formulated in the immediately following passage where it is observed, with the reiteration of the key word, that Orban's visit "reflects a rational and pragmatic voice in Europe (despite the) existing differences between China and the EU in areas such as electric vehicles.”
The fact highlighted again by the experts that Orban's transition comes a few days after he assumed the rotating presidency of the Union therefore turns into an evident recommendation to the Eurocrats in Brussels to follow Orban's pragmatism in dealing with Beijing on the key dossier of the EV, the same one that had temporarily spoiled the recent visit to the Chinese capital of Vice Chancellor Habeck , then put it back on track with a promise of dialogue on the subject of subsidies.
WHAT HAPPENS BETWEEN XI AND ORBAN
The agreement between Xi and Orban is sealed by the Global Times through eloquent statements attributed to the two leaders cited but not in quotation marks, thus signaling the margins for improvement attributed to the authors of the article.
Xi's hope would therefore be that Hungary "wants to play an active role in promoting healthy and stable relations between China and the EU", while "the Hungarian leader" would have expressed the desire to "strengthen cooperation" and to “oppose the formation of small circles and challenges between blocs”.
But it is on the "key topic of electric vehicles" that the most challenging sentences arise, this time attributed by the Global Times to the Institute of European Studies researcher Dong Yifan, who recalls how "Hungary and other EU countries are starting to take an approach more practical and rational to the changes in the industrial structures of China and Hungary together with the complementary economic and trade relations between China and the EU".
HUNGARY ELECTRIC CAR HUB
In short, if Budapest has agreed to become a hub for Chinese electric cars , it is only due to the "pragmatism" of Orban who, as soon as he takes on the role of current EU president, runs to Beijing to apologize for the protectionist excesses of his European colleagues.
As Orban reportedly promised in words reported this time by Xinhua , “Hungary is keen to use the rotating EU presidency as an opportunity to actively promote strong EU-China relations”.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/mondo/visita-viktor-orban-cina/ on Tue, 09 Jul 2024 06:02:55 +0000.