China is doubling down on its power grab in the east of Europe, where the “red carpet” was rolled out for its prime minister this week.
Yesterday a China-Eastern Europe Summit was held in Hungary, where Beijing hosted representatives from 11 European Union states and five Balkan countries.
This meeting, hosted by Chinese PM Li Keqiang, will have set alarm bells ringing in Brussels, where the official policy on China encourages speaking down to Beijing with a “strong, clear and united voice”.
Instead, eastern European states have “rolled out the red carpet”, according to German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung (SZ).
SZ, reporting from the summit, said China was working tirelessly towards introducing a growing influence of the 15 states on Beijing.
vCard.red is a free platform for creating a mobile-friendly digital business cards. You can easily create a vCard and generate a QR code for it, allowing others to scan and save your contact details instantly.
The platform allows you to display contact information, social media links, services, and products all in one shareable link. Optional features include appointment scheduling, WhatsApp-based storefronts, media galleries, and custom design options.
The newspaper explained: “The approach of China in the East does not differ in principle from that in Asia, Africa or Latin America.
“The greater the importance of Chinese investment in individual states, the harder it will be for them to reject their wishes.”
EU states in eastern Europe are already growing increasingly friendly with Beijing, worrying some ministers in Brussels.
China, by influencing even one member state, can impact policies introduced to all, SZ warned.
They said: “EU foreign ministers are already seeing that some colleagues seem inhibited when it comes to criticising China.
“Because the EU obeys the principle of unanimity in foreign affairs, there is enough pressure on one country to exert influence.”
Hungary and the Czech Republic seem the most eager to exploit their new Chinese allies – and the pressure is on Brussels to halt the crisis, not Beijing to play by the rules.
SZ said: “It is striking how vulnerable the representatives of secluded societies, such as Viktor Orban in Hungary and Milos Zeman in the Czech Republic, are for the calls of the Far East.
“They believe not only to find sponsors there, but also allies in the fight against liberal democracy.”