China-Hungary ties: "High-quality cooperation between both countries"

CGTN Europe

CGTN Europe interviewed Levente Horváth, former Consul General of Hungary in Shanghai, who is also the Director of the Eurasia Center at John von Neumann University, Hungary.

Transcript

00:00Well, Lavender Hovert is the former consul general of Hungary in Shanghai. Welcome to the program.

00:06What are your takeaways as this European tour ends?

00:12Thank you very much. Thank you for the invitation.

00:14I have to mention that it's not only a strategic partnership between the two countries because they already had it in

00:222017, but they have changed it now,

00:26upgraded now it for an all-weather comprehensive strategic partnership for the new era.

00:31So they have a high quality

00:34cooperation between the Hungarian and Chinese and it was a good program for

00:39celebrating the 75th anniversary of the Hungarian and Chinese diplomatic relation.

00:45Does Hungary's rolling out of the red carpet for Xi Jinping

00:49in a show of obvious warmth perhaps contrast with

00:54the wariness perhaps in the rest of the EU when it comes to China?

01:00Hungary has an own idea about

01:05diplomatic relation, about the international relations, such as we are thinking about the connectivity,

01:11we are against of the de-risking because in the history we have seen that it is not a

01:17successful story if we are trying to block using this kind of block system or

01:24sanctioning policy. So we are

01:27believing in the connectivity and we also

01:30announced the peace and we are against of the war. So China has the similar ideas about it,

01:37so that's why the two countries they have a common and mutual respect and a good cooperation.

01:43But however, Hungary is doing like that. The European Union members,

01:48they also have very strong economic relations. One month before the Chancellor of Germany shows,

01:55he has visited

01:57China and also this time Macron has welcomed Xi Jinping. Us last year

02:02he was visiting Beijing, but other prime ministers they are

02:06visiting Beijing too for seeking good cooperation with the Chinese.

02:12The EU back in

02:142019 declared China a systemic rival and the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said last year that

02:23Europe needed to de-risk its relations with Beijing.

02:27After this visit, is this de-risking or closer cooperation?

02:33I don't think the de-risking can be managed because

02:37between

02:39Europe and China there is a very strong

02:42economical

02:44relation and ties. So not only Hungary having very strong relations, however, in Hungary

02:51we are doing great in the trades. Nowadays the Chinese and Hungarian trade is

02:584% of the total trade and

03:01Chinese FDI can reach 9% of the Hungarian FDI.

03:05So we are indeed doing well, especially after the open to the east policy, but if you see the

03:13relation, the economical relation between Germany or France and China, they do have bigger

03:20investments. The Chinese have bigger investments in

03:24the Western European countries. So there is no

03:27opportunity to have de-risking. It is a political and ideological war because we are witnessing the world order

03:35changing and there will be a new

03:38multipolar world order after the last unipolar world order and the Western countries are afraid of losing their

03:46number one status

03:48position. So now they are demonizing China and they are doing a lot of political and ideological

03:56criticization on China, but behind it they are having a very strong

04:03economical trade and cooperation.

04:05Lavender Hobbit, good to talk to you. Thank you so much indeed Lavender Hobbit, the former Consul General of Hungary in Shanghai.

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