This Is China's Europe Strategy

Chinese President Xi Jinping meets Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban ahead of the Belt and Road Forum in Beijing, China May 13, 2017. (REUTERS/Jason Lee)

Frederick Kempe, Atlantic Council: China's Europe Strategy

SCHLOSS ELMAU, GERMANY – Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban recently shared some history with a friend, explaining why he reached out to China’s then-Premier Wen Jiabao in 2011, seeking urgent financial support and providing Beijing one of several European inroads in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis.

Orban’s reason was a simple one: survival. Facing a potential debt crisis and unwilling to accept austere loan conditions from Western institutions, Beijing offered a lifeline. For his part, Orban convened some Central European leaders with Beijing, and they laid the groundwork for the “16-plus-one” initiative based in Budapest that since then has provided China unprecedented regional influence.

Read more ....

WNU Editor: When Chinese diplomats and their leaders show up, they bring their checkbooks with big promises. You cannot compete against that type of foreign policy, but China has had some "screw-ups" in Europe like this one in 2013 .... China reportedly just bought 5% of Ukraine (but the Ukrainian partner denies it) (Quartz).