Hungarian Conservative

‘It was thought that the BRI, aside enhancing China’s geo-political clout, would have not just boosted trade and growth, it would have also created sustainable development and social stability in the countries involved. On the contrary, the social impact of large infrastructure projects were are often implemented through human rights violations.’

According to a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, following over three hours of negotiations, an agreement was reached to include additional Hungarian railway developments on the list of infrastructure projects under China’s Belt and Road Initiative.

‘Western conservatism and mainstream Chinese political thought share an important characteristic: a culturalist worldview that recognizes what is culturally one’s own and, from this basis, acknowledges and accepts the otherness of Others in a pluralistic world of cultures and civilizations. This is a particular form of cosmopolitanism; one may call it conservative.’

One simply cannot put something as complexly different as the Chinese intellectual field onto either the American left–right axis or the West-European ideological taxonomy. Ultimately, the Chinese field is a different world, albeit one that bears affinities with, and shows much interest in, us Western conservatives.

Agriculture Minister István Nagy of Hungary met with his Chinese counterpart, Ma Youxiang, to discuss closer cooperation efforts between the two countries.

Gazprom is making efforts to compensate for the losses in the European markets, which occurred following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, partly due to the explosions in the Baltic Sea pipelines of the Nord Stream project.

Viktor Orbán stated in Beijing that during President Xi Jinping’s tenure, Chinese–Hungarian relations have reached ‘unprecedented heights,’ which is extremely beneficial for Hungary. Orbán expressed gratitude to his host for the constant and unwavering support that Xi Jinping has provided for the development of bilateral relations.

According to Professor Tokuchi, the war on Ukraine is likely to last for a substantial period of time, engagement with China is necessary but risky, and demographic challenges seriously influence Japan’s future defence capabilities.

‘Indeed, things are getting so difficult for Xi’s authoritarian directives…China’s economy actually fell into deflation in July, while factory-gate prices also extended declines—its debt is three times its GDP in 2022. Beijing’s consumer price index, the main gauge of inflation, fell 0.3 per cent in July, the National Bureau of Statistics of China (NBS) said, after having flatlined in June.’

The exhibition centres on the founding members of the Pest Workshop, a group that was actively engaged in screen-printing from 1971 to 1988, thereby constituting a defining artistic community of that era.

According to the Annual Persecution Report of ChinaAid, a non-governmental Christian non-profit that focuses on human rights abuses and religious freedom in China, government pressure on Christian churches and faithful to yield to political ideology has only increased since the signing of the 2018 agreement between the Holy See and Beijing.

‘In fairness, to say that Washington, Brussels, and Budapest have some pre-existing policy disagreements is a laughable understatement. Nonetheless, the question remains: Why is Hungary growing closer to China as the West grows further away? The short answer is: it’s complicated.’

‘Could Biden’s token [of shaking hands only with Orbán when arriving for the NATO group photo in Vilnius], as some experts suspect, have been an invitation to the Hungarian government to hop on board the US geopolitical bandwagon and forget the Chinese and Russian ones?’

‘There is also a way to deal with the world’s largest economy, for the US Dollar (USD) is not going to decline anytime soon. Those who claim that the USD is in decline often argue that for centuries, reserve currencies have risen and fallen in tandem with their home economies. As the US’ share of the global economy diminishes, economists argue, so too will the USD and its global hegemony. A fascinating yet hardly conclusive argument since there has never been a dominant global reserve currency prior to the USD. Quite the contrary, the USD is the only currency ever to have played such a pivotal role in international commerce.’

After the completion of the investment, the Chinese–Hungarian joint venture, Jiangsu Magnus Aircraft Manufacturing, is expected to create a total of 300 jobs, with Hungarian employees playing a leading role.

‘If the European Union views China as a rival, it will lose out. It has become evident in recent years that China has a competitive advantage in many areas of the economy,’ the minister declared. He emphasised that if the EU wants to benefit from its relationship with China, it should focus on cooperation based on mutual trust, respect, and benefits rather than rivalry.

Beijing does not seem to be deterred from aiding Moscow with military supplies despite yet another warning by the Biden administration. China was also unwilling to condemn Russia’s aggression at the G20 summit in India.

Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China by Jung Chang gives the readers not only an insight into 20th-century Chinese history, but it also powerfully speaks of human bravery and dedication to truth in the darkest hours of history.

Xi has been ruthless in his ten-year rule of China, curbing personal freedoms such as free speech and freedom of religion, arresting anyone who raised their voice against his authoritarian regime.

Although Putin was the first world leader Xi Jinping met with outside China since the outbreak of the pandemic, Beijing is probably more interested in a West divided over Ukraine than in Russia itself.

Cooperation between China and the Central and Eastern European countries (CEE) was established in 2012. While at its peak, the initiative comprised 17 CEE states, that number has shrunk to 14, as a result of disillusionment with Beijing over its silence on the Russian aggression against Ukraine, as well as its unkept investment promises.

Tensions rise between China and the United States over Taiwan. But why is a relatively small island so important?

China’s share in the key manufacturing stages of solar panels surpasses 80 per cent, which is a number that is set to reach 95 per cent in the coming years. As EU countries race towards their energy transition goals the question remains how this phenomenon is going to impact their plans?

The recipient countries themselves will judge whether the EU’s Strategy will be able to hider the expansion of China’s sphere of influence, or whether it is only a “too little too late” project of the lagging West. 

Viktor Orbán has a very long record in public life, from his early days as a strong anti-communist freedom fighter, through to his first stint in government, and now to this long and successful tenure as a prime minister. He’s been able to articulate a brand of conservatism that is both economically sensible and culturally conservative and traditionalist.

‘Hopefully, under a second Trump administration, we’re going to see a new high in Hungarian⁠–⁠American relations that we haven’t seen since Kossuth visited America back in the 1850s,’ Republican Congressional Aide Johnny Szani pointed out in an interview with Hungarian Conservative.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed the decree expanding the country’s martial law on 23 April, which, in practice, means the derogation from certain obligations undertaken by the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. The new decree also includes limitations on the consular services that Ukrainians can access abroad if their military registration documents are not updated.

‘Our fate has become one with that of the European Union not only because of integration, but also for geographical, economic, cultural and civilizational reasons. If the ship sinks, we sink with it. Of course, it is our duty to do everything we can to prepare a good lifeboat, but tossing and turning in a lifeboat in stormy seas is not the same as on an ocean liner. Therefore, the wisest thing to do is to remove the captain before he steers Europe’s ship into an iceberg. And the opportunity to do so is just now, more than twenty years after our accession.’

‘I wish there were more Hungary in the European Union. if centre-right and conservative parties win elections all over Europe and come into government, then there will be a chance to change something in Europe. You can’t change anything in Brussels. Brussels is unchangeable.’ 

A new world order, European security, shifting geopolitics and the nuances of energy security were discussed by renowned experts at a conference at the Ludovika University of Public Service in Budapest.