Broadening relations and cooperation with China does not present a danger but an opportunity that could serve the development of both countries, Laszlo Kover, the speaker of parliament, said at a reception in Budapest on Thursday, marking the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and Hungary.
Hungary has an interest in being a link between East and West as Hungary would benefit from such cooperation in the wider world, but Hungary pays a heavy price whenever strife flares up between East and West as the country suffers in the crossfire geographically and politically, Kover said.
Its role as a bridgehead is strengthened by Hungary’s Eastern opening established in 2010 and its decision to join Belt and Road in 2013, the first European country to do so, he added.
Kover said Hungary and China had profitably tapped opportunities for cooperation in the past 75 years, noting that China has become Hungary’s biggest trading partner outside Europe.
Chinese investments in the automotive industry, the electronics industry and the financial sector, he added, had contributed to Hungary’s economic growth while creating jobs.
He also noted cooperation between higher education and cultural institutions and a “mutual boom in tourism”.
Europe, he insisted, could learn much from China, such as “the art of politics based on endurance and patience”. Europe, he added, could thereby take up its “rightful role in shaping the future of the world and responding to global challenges”.
Without China, a balance of power in favour of peace would not be established globally in the 21st century. But cooperation and peace and security may only be established in the spirit of mutual respect, he said, adding that Hungarian-Chinese ties were based accordingly.
At the reception, Chinese Ambassador Tao Gong gave a welcome speech, praising relations between the two countries.
