King's College London

Xi’s visit to Hungary is about political alliances. Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán, has been critical of the European posture on Russia and Ukraine, largely siding with Moscow. Donald Trump, the Republican current nominee for the presidency waxed lyrical about Orbán at a rally some months back in the US, calling him a 'very great man'. That Xi is now courting him too must make him wonder why such different countries are keen to get close to him.

These visits by Chinese leaders, no matter how formulaic and protocol driven they might seem, definitely matter. Xi has been exposed largely to domestic views, with only a very low likelihood that these might have expressed even mild criticism of the current direction of the government. At least in travels abroad, he might see directly some of the concerns that the outside world has about China, and reflect on these.

 

This is not to say that China will be remotely interested in yet more lectures from Western governments about how it needs to run its affairs, any more than leaders in Europe will want Xi to tell them how to run theirs. But engaging with and acknowledging the worries and concerns of Europeans about what is happening in Ukraine, and for that matter the Middle East, is important for Beijing. So too is ensuring that the large areas where there is positive co-operation, from global warming to AI, continue. After all, these matter to all of us.