McConnell Remarks On Resisting Chinese Influence in NATO
‘Victor Orban’s government has cultivated the PRC as its top trading partner outside the EU. It’s given Beijing sweeping law enforcement authorities to hunt dissidents on Hungarian soil. It was the first European country to join Beijing’s Belt-and-Road Initiative, which other European governments - like Prime Minister Meloni’s in Italy - have wisely decided to leave…’
“This week, Putin is in Beijing, tending to what Russia and China have called a ‘friendship without limits’.
“But last week, it was President Xi who took to the road. And notably, his warmest welcome was in Budapest, Hungary.
“The visit from the PRC’s leader came as more of our European NATO allies are waking up – not only to the harsh reality of Russian aggression, but also to the linked threats facing Western security and prosperity, to the urgent requirements of defense production, and to the particular challenge the PRC poses as a systemic rival.
“But Hungary? Not so much.
“Victor Orban’s government has cultivated the PRC as its top trading partner outside the EU. It’s given Beijing sweeping law enforcement authorities to hunt dissidents on Hungarian soil.
“It was the first European country to join Beijing’s Belt-and-Road Initiative, which other European governments – like Prime Minister Meloni’s in Italy – have wisely decided to leave.
“And Hungary has doubled down on Huawei. After the previous US administration went to great lengths to encourage Europe to reject it, Hungary has let the PRC communications giant bake Chinese technology into the country’s 5G expansion.
“Even as other European nations are paying vast sums to extract Huawei from their communications infrastructure, Hungary is now home to Huawei’s European regional logistics hub – a veritable gateway to the West.
“And last week, Prime Minister Orban’s government signed nineteen more agreements with the PRC, from transportation infrastructure to potential nuclear cooperation.
“A joint statement described the two countries’ relationship as ‘an all-weather comprehensive strategic partnership’. That’s between Hungary and the PRC.
“But the details of China’s growing influence in Budapest should raise red flags for anyone seriously concerned about strategic competition with China.
“From across the Atlantic, there’s good reason to appreciate a European government that’s willing to question EU orthodoxy on things like short-sighted climate change policy or swim upstream in defense of conservative values.
“But here in Washington, we’re obliged to evaluate whether allies and partners share our interests, not just our values. And whatever their pluck in dealings with EU bureaucrats in Brussels, Hungary’s leaders have cozied up to America’s greatest strategic adversaries.
“Now, it’s one thing that a latter-day Walter Duranty who shills for Putin on Twitter might also admire the only NATO member whose leader flies to Moscow to pay obeisance to the Russian dictator.
“But Hungary’s willingness to serve as China’s doormat to Europe? That part is tougher to square with the position of folks in Washington for whom singular focus on China had recently become an article of faith.
“The Democratic Party’s increasing willingness to abandon Israel cries out for frequent and heavy doses of reality and harsh criticism. Unfortunately, so does this increasingly muddied logic on the threats facing the West from Russia and China.
“A NATO government that fawns over a Russian neo-Soviet imperialist…
“A European nation that rolls out the red carpet for greater predation, coercion, and espionage from a communist regime…
“This isn’t where America should be taking our foreign policy cues.
“How about sending high-profile diplomatic and trade missions to Tehran?
“Hungary’s voluntary legitimization of the world’s most active state sponsor of terrorism?
“I didn’t think conservatives had any time for those who suck up to Iran.
“Maybe aligning with autocrats is in Hungary’s interests. But let’s return from Budapest and discuss what’s in America’s interests.
“America has an interest in strong allies who are willing to pull more of the weight of collective defense in the face of threats from Russia, Iran, and China.
“And we could have welcomed two more such allies to our ranks much sooner if not for Orban’s obstruction of Sweden and Finland’s accession to NATO.
“Not only do these countries have robust defense industries and capable militaries. They also each have companies that offer safer alternatives to Chinese 5G technology.
“And while many of us in Washington were urging the EU to do more to support Ukraine, Hungary was blocking greater EU burden-sharing.
“Frankly, Mr. President, Hungary stands at the crossroads of three powers bent on undermining our security and prosperity.
“And the Orban government is modeling what not to do in the face of these challenges.
“My message to America’s European allies has been the same, no matter their politics or culture:
“Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea are working together to undermine us. And we need to move faster to rebuild the hard power we need to deter and defeat aggression, and hold one another accountable to share the burden of collective defense.
“There’s plenty of work left to do on this front.”
###
Related Issues: NATO, China, Russia
Next Previous
