“EASTERN OPENING”
From France, Xi will mind to Serbia, and finally Hungary from May 8 to May 10.
The visit to Belgrade will resonate with the celebration of the US bombing of the country’s capital in 1999, allowing Xi to take a sharp anti-West message.
China has made significant investments to expand its economic footprint in central and eastern Europe, including sprawling battery and electric vehicle ( EV ) manufacturing facilities in Hungary and Serbian copper and gold mines.
” The prepare to celebrate the… NATO attack of the Chinese Embassy… also paves the way for Putin’s attend to China: NATO is a threat to global surveillance”, said Wang Yiwei, director of the Center for European Union Studies at Renmin University of China.
He may join with Hungary’s prime secretary Viktor Orban, a vehement nationalist who opposes the formal EU position on Russia.
Since his return to power in 2010, Orban has been pushing for an” East entry” foreign policy, promoting closer economic ties to China, Russia, and other Asian nations.
The 9.6 million-strong Central European nation has recently attracted a storm of significant Chinese jobs in spite of its small size.
Orban discussed his vision for a” sovereignist world” where “global economies are organized non-ideologically along the lines of common benefit” in a speech last month.
Assoc Prof Chong from NUS said that Xi possible chose his halts for a reason , – to “make things look pretty good” despite continued resistance.
He even noted that as China eased its COVID- 19 pandemic regulations, Xi was strong on building ties with Europe.
” Then Wang Yi has visited, but I guess the next step is for Xi himself to attend and for him to kind of be the face of the PRC ( People’s Republic of China ) to try to move relationships in a forward direction, particularly at a time where there are lots of variations”, he added.
” I suppose ( German Chancellor ) Olaf Scholz’s visit comes right after [German Chancellor’s visit to the PRC earlier on, so I suppose Beijing must believe there is some encouraging momentum for them to do more.”