[Text/Watchman Network Qi Qian] The Trump administration has repeatedly pressured Hungary to reduce economic exchanges with China, and the Hungarian side has clearly refused.

According to reports by European media Euractiv and the Hong Kong South China Morning Post, on May 15 local time, while attending a meeting in Brussels, Hungarian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Levente Mazar reiterated that Hungary will not succumb to U.S. pressure to "decouple" from China, which he described as a "red line" for Hungarian-U.S. relations.

The report stated that when asked whether Hungary would "decouple" from China, Mazar, who was attending the EU meeting in Brussels, emphasized: "Absolutely not."

"This is a red line for us. We maintain good trade relations with China, which has become one of Hungary's largest investors," Mazar said. "If this is what Trump wants," Hungary refuses.

The South China Morning Post said that this rare statement clarified Hungary's stance on maintaining close relations with two superpowers.

Mazar mentioned China's substantial investments in Hungary. Data shows that 44% of Chinese investments flowing into Europe in 2023 went to Hungary, surpassing Germany, France, and the UK, making it the most popular investment destination for Chinese capital. Previously, large Chinese enterprises such as CATL and BYD have already invested in building factories in Hungary, with production expected to start soon.

Mazar pointed out: "Considering our population and economic scale, our proportion is relatively high. This shows that Hungary benefits from its highly close economic and trade relations with China. We are unwilling to give this up."

Levente Mazar answers questions from journalists on social media on May 15.

It was reported that on that day, trade ministers from EU countries held a meeting in Brussels to discuss a package of plans to counteract Trump's tariffs and a series of economic security policies. This meeting was held against the backdrop of a "dramatic" easing of tensions between China and the United States.

From May 10 to 11, high-level economic talks between China and the United States were held in Switzerland, and both sides agreed to reduce tariffs within 90 days, cutting the rates by 115%.

European officials generally welcomed the results of the China-U.S. talks. Valdis Dombrovskis, Executive Vice-President of the European Commission and Commissioner for Trade, said that the easing of tensions in China-U.S. trade marked a positive development. However, he reminded that current U.S. tariffs on China remained "quite high and correspondingly distorted trade."

Notably, after Trump took a tough stance on trade and security issues with the EU, many believed this could provide an opportunity to improve EU-China relations. However, the EU's attitude toward China remains awkward. Previously, some EU member states expressed concerns about "China," claiming that a large number of Chinese imports would flood the EU market and impact EU businesses.

On May 15, Michal Baranowski, Deputy Minister of Development and Technology of Poland, began to exhibit paranoia. He agreed that the easing of tensions between China and the United States was a "good sign," but also claimed that it might alleviate Europe's concerns about "trade diversion" from China to some extent.

The South China Morning Post said that for many years, Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has been considered the most pro-Trump and pro-China leader in Europe. However, after Trump returned to office in January this year, U.S. officials continuously tried to drive a wedge between China and Hungary.

On April 15, Robert Palladino, the acting U.S. Ambassador to Hungary, said at a meeting in Budapest: "Trump's position is clear: China poses a strategic challenge to the United States and our allies, and these challenges require vigilance, transparency, and unity."

On April 25, Donald Trump Jr., speaking in Hungary, said that Hungary and Central and Eastern European countries should choose the U.S. over China as their economic partner. He also hyped up that the challenges brought by China to the region were greater than those from Russia. He claimed: "Considering these processes, moving manufacturing to the U.S. takes time. Breaking away from dependence on China is the first step, and the degree of dependence is too high."

In response to a series of U.S. pressures, Hungary's Minister of Economy Marton Nagy emphasized on April 28 that Hungary would not reduce its economic ties with China. He stated that Hungary's stance was very pragmatic, and the investment potential of the U.S. could not compare with China. Bloomberg described this as the clearest signal so far from Hungary, indicating that the government led by Orbán would not bow to U.S. pressure to distance itself from China.

This article is an exclusive contribution from Watchman Network and cannot be reprinted without permission.

Original source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7504684212478476854/

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