Hungary is a fascinating example of "Multi-Vector Foreign Policy". What's unusual about Hungary though is that this approach to foreign policy is usually done by countries with no allegiance to a single bloc/alliance/union - however Hungary is in the European Union, which makes this approach quite awkward for Budapest. This video is a very good example of this dilemma, thanks!
A Chinese university, built by Chinese contractor, employing only Chinese workers, paid by the Hungarian gov, on a prime Hungarian plot of land. Oh what a sweet deal. 🥴
China is only leasing the land and the new buildings to set up the university and financing the project, everything is still owned by the Hungarian government so why shouldn't Hungary pay for it? China's policy worldwide is to construct the infrastructures they invest in by themselves in order to avoid corruption in the construction process and keep the costs low but most of the construction workers are still Hungarians and the Chinese are just the project managers.
I'm Hungarian so I already knew about this, but from all the coverage about these issues, this is the best quality and informed video. and you pronounce Budapest the correct way 😍
I direct question to you as an insider: why do Hungarians like to have a president like this? I mean, people of all Europe know of Hungarys‘s rich past and the capital is beautiful but there is no development with Orban. You get overtaken by other countries
If this is unbiased to new Europeans then you guys r hopeless. Though misinformation n insinuation in this video are pretty backhanded I’d give you that. After all, it’s a gesture of good will to a friendly nation by offering an international campus since education is often considered to be very important in East Asian culture. For all I know there’s no need for the Hungarians to be insulting and borderline childish to rename the streets after separatist movements in China backed by Uncle Sam. Just elect a new government to cut any existing ties with China, I’m quite certain many cities in China would be more than happy to take over the project n fudan could actually turn a profit than losing money in Hungary.
As a Hungarian I think the video summarizes the subject very well. In general, no one supports the plan of bringing in a university on the tax payer's cost which has pledged loyality to the Communist party in its academic charter instead of academic freedom. The FIDESZ government has gradually removed a number checks and balances and tend to foster relationships with other autocratic governments in the East. The Hungarian population had its fair share of communism and a single party system and even some FIDESZ voters are not very happy with these new relationships. Hungary has always played a game between the east and the west and it never really turned any profit, you can see a fine example for this with Orban's support for Putin's Russia.
I am wondering why. If we look at the other (European) post Soviet countries, most or maybe all are pro West. With the occasional local bigotry, like Poland's, creating a little bit of friction, but generally pro West. What is going so differently with Hungary? Any insights?
@@ggtt2547 As the video points out, the FIDESZ won the general elections with an outright majority in 2010. Ever since they have increased the control over major economic players and the media via loyal oligarchs. Fox News is nothing compared to the scaremongering that you can see on the Hungarian state TV channels. For the government it is easy to use the west as a false threat to Hungarian independence in the eyes of the public who is subjected to state media, it is a non-existing threat that the government can claim they handle and protect the people from. FIDESZ used a populist agenda to cover up the real problems that the country faces and to play off lucrative contracts to people close to Orban. FIDESZ has to hold onto power in order not to be investigated or prosecuted over corruption. A natural ally for this is the non democratic governments of Russia and China who supports the FIDESZ government with tangible and non-tangible assets in exchange for representing their interest in the European Union. Up until the recent occupation of Ukraine, FIDESZ always vetoed any EU initiative against Russia and China, becoming the Trojan horse of the EU. :-(
@@valaky Very interesting, thank you. Let's hope that the brutality happening currently in Eastern Europe will wake up people against Russia and maybe China. I wish Orban the worst in the upcoming elections. And i wish you the best!!
Just a note the Peking Uni in the UK is more of a visa factory than any kind of real uni and serves as a way to offer Chinese post grad students a opportunity to study internationally while staying within the China dogma. Its barely bigger than a country home and no serious student would study there. And of course it has no contribution from the UK state. Even student finance will not offer any financing to UK students who wish to study there.
China never plays fair in anything the steal foreign companies technologies, they debt trap entire nations, they oppress freedom, they pollute the planet, they put minorities in concentration camps etc
The number of Chinese students studying in the UK each year is the largest of all. Since when do Chinese graduate students rely on the UK branch of Peking University for international perspective? HaHaHa That's ridiculous
@@astaniorc2298 U.S. and UK universities in China are unfortunately under the thumb of the evil authoritarian Chinese government. Conversely, but not really, Chinese universities around the world are under the thumb of the evil authoritarian Chinese government, which exercises its insidious power over its subjects no matter where they go on earth. Talk about creepy. Any country that gets into bed with Chinese educational institutes needs to think long and hard about China’s real intentions.
I am from Hungary, and you did an amazing summary of the situtation! Also, your pronunciation of Hungarian words and names is the best I've ever heard from a foreigner, are you by change Hungarian as well?
I really hate the idea of foreign states opening universities in another country. As an alternative, China has a plethora Hungarian universities to choose from to have collaborative projects with such as developing world-class books and transferring technologies/ideas to Hungary. In Saudi Arabia we never allow foreign states to open independent universities in our country, but the Saudi universities are already open and collaborative with world class universities. I think this is a better win-win solution.
Hungary: We won't let any non European immigrants here Hungary is for Hungarians only China: Gib your land I pay Also Hungary: Okay take as much as you want
@@babyboom1380 what? If he was speaking in Hungarian what was the problem of that? Im Portuguese and when someone speaks in English and talks about the cities in my country I don’t expect them to say it in Portuguese, I expect it to be pronounced in english, obviously 🤷🏻♀️
@@santiagorappy71 Orban is unliked by the youth, in fact not many youth in Eastern Europe like their leaders i.e. Poland and Slovakia. Eastern Europe has a complicated history, it's only furthered complicated by the Ukrainian war. I could go on for days about this issue tbh
@@santiagorappy71 Orban won because he and his closest friends own state TV (all news channels) and they broadsast Orban's anti-EU propaganda with imaginary enemies such as Soros, Migrants, LMBTQ people, and whatever he can rank up underdeveloped communities to join his "fight" againts outsiders. Most of his voters don't even have internet, so he has an open road to power. They had the opposition leader invited in state TV before the election - it was the only opposition member in a whole election term (4 years), and now watch this: the opposition leader was allowed to be on screen for FIVE minutes altogether (with a countdown timer), and the 5 minute speech was live at 7:53 on a random Wednesday morning when people are commuting to work. That's Orban's "democracy".
expanding of soft power and also a more attractive option for funding from the other country. in chinas case however it is 100% soft power and wanting to gain a foothold in mainland european academics.
@@dustwalkerx3090 Also and additional thing that China intends to suppress the Pro Tibetan sentiments among the European continent by increasing their Political clout
Propaganda thats what it is…We are the free world so they can dl things like this on our countries but imagine a pro American university in China lol that would never fly
There are no nation-size loans that come with no strings attached, look at IMF loans for example. They are like deals where on top of minimizing interest rates you have to balance foreing policy.
I still don’t understand why the Hungarian government would contribute any money toward this project. Allowing it is one thing, facilitating whatever. But actually forking out cash for it? When China is so rich already? I don’t get it.
I think that's generally how these relationships work. To be fair, when Liverpool Univerisity launched a campus in China, the Chinese government footed some of that bill.
People need to be more aware of these tactics and of the propaganda that China produces directed towards Westerners. People need to know what wumao are.
I appreciate that you always present controversial topics like this with a non-biased lens - it always looks and sounds so effortless, but I'm sure a lot goes into keeping that balance and presenting everything but still making it entertaining to watch. And of course, amazing visuals!! (Especially the classroom set up - so cool!)
There is one thing bothering me. I do not see what he hopes to gain from it. I know they get a new university, and better political ties to China, but wouldn't most of the studens be exhange students from China anyways, and I'm not certain that it would be a symbiotic political venture. Besides it's taxpayer monny straight out of the country as the contractor has a reputation for not using local labor, not even mentioning the loan that has its own risks as mention in the video... Is there a solid argument I'm missing, not giving enough credit, or a strong local political movement/rhetoric I dont know about, that talks for the projekt? or are we in out in a imbesseing/monny under the tabe situation? I really can't see the political motivation.
@@abibas3050 well European universities usually set up branches in China for business purpose, it’s extremely lucrative. But in this case the Chinese university is most likely not going to gain by setting up branches in Europe, so it’s more of a political foothold thing, plus it could be used as a base to churn out pro-China academic pieces. Whether or not if this worth it really depends on value judgement, however.
@@Press2GetTheCookie MSP means that it's nice to have the Hungarian consonant "s" pronounced /sh/, the way the language uses it (in contrast with most western pronunciation of the letter).
That kinda makes sense. Hmm. Almost like Nato members paying the US for troops instead of the US paying cause it gets soft power from it. Great Power Shenanigans
There are two controversial aspects. 1. Hungary is essentially gifting a $2 billion university to China. This will be a private university with no guaranteed free quota for hungarian students. An awful deal for Hungary. 2. Orbán forced another private university, CEU out of the country because "it is too liberal". Now he invites a communist university instead.
I havnt watched more than 2 mins yet but I’d be extremely surprised if another country within the EU apart from Hungary of course accepted a Chinese university.
I don't see the issue. Other countries can and have operated campuses in China. Why not the reverse? NYU, for example, is in Shanghai. Just reassign another plot of land for student housing
Damn, what a missed opportunity. The renders for the Student City designed by the Norwegian firm looked great. Wouldn't mind more Scandinavian firm designing large scale projects in the Americas. I think something like Bjørvika would be amazing on a former industrial area on the Great Lakes
@@lilithdvs13 Uh yes, because one bloc is a democratic and respects human rights, and the other is an autocratic regime that is committing an ongoing genocide and traps other countries in debt diplomacy. And hegemony from the EU? Hungary is IN the EU.
@@QuongeloCravis Let's not ignore EU debt diplomacy though. For developing countries, EU, US and Chinese only look different depending on the situation, as the experience we've had with other powers hasn't been exactly the most positive.
@@lilithdvs13 China is against freedom of speech lol American universities within America target America all the time because we actually have freedom of speech
Thankyou for making this, these sorts of videos are highly risky in the shadey state youtube has reached but they are the most important pieces of information that exists right now. We are in the midst of dangerous change.
I don't quite understand why Hungary is not being let go out of their EU prison already. Last thing we need now is to have open borders with this russian 5th column :-/
So Hungary directly pays for part of the project and gets a loan for the rest. The project is being built by Chinese workers, a Chinese corporation, and Chinese resources. So…what’s the benefit to Hungary?
I like the video , please keep in mind, we don’t need background sound affects the whole time especially if they drown out the audio AND especially if they are blipity sounding, ITS VERY DISTRACTING. All the matters is quality content, the knowledge, and a visual so many RU-vidrs do too much with sound incorrectly, it ruins it.
Considering that China is on the path of uncoupling from the world (it’s universities are withdrawing from world recognised ranking systems, so the quality of their education cannot be scrutinised) I am not sure this will have more than a cursory impact. With current geopolitical situation and the end of globalisation, it is unlikely these ‘universities’ will have much longevity.
Globalization will continue whether the West likes it or not. Unless the West isolate itself from the world. West population is 1 billion Vs others 6 billion.
@@ASK-ko9qx If they play their games how they do, in a very short time they will get no more EU money , that will be the start of it... the country itself will collapse just because of this one fact and probably with time they get more and more pressure, the only ally they had was Poland, but with the current situation with RUssia they will lose that too, and than it's game over for Hungary, I don't know why, but the country loves to play at the wrong side of history all the time, and they do it again, they are masters of being on the wrong side all the time.
@@UmbraWeiss Nope it won't happen. You know why because this empowers eurosceptists and also Poland will veto it even if they don't want to. Mind you this about kicking them out of EU not stopping the funding. That can and could happen.
There are NYC shanghai campus, Liverpool University Suzhou campus also Moscow university Shenzhen campus... If you check this university, it alsoranks high globally.But anyway, you can againt what you want, its also a choice.
the difference is NYU is not controlled by the US government. Fudan university is controlled by the Communist Party and will control the education to promote political interests.
Because it's CCP being so alienating. My example is at least in US/UK Uni, you can apply free speech( You can also say shit about them and they don't care). But for a CCP( I'm being specific since not All Chinese are supporting the Party), you cant even joke anything that the party wants to censor. I'm not against any foreign University ( I want to enter an Indian University because of their IT Specialty) as long as it didn't threaten my rights, opinions (even it's flawed, it can be corrected by better education), culture, and nationality which the CCP will not adhere.
the difference is NYU is not controlled by the US government. Fudan university is controlled by the Communist Party and will control the education to promote political interests.
I still cannot understand, why everybody claim that it is Hungarian money spent to the university construction whereas it is clear that Chinese money only. The video contradicts itself
Just FYI Hungary can’t just let a Chinese company build the university! It has to go into a public bidding process! That’s a Requirement to be in the single market
@@cakeisyummy5755 Serampore College 1818 Chittagong District School / College 1836 - 1869 Dhaka College 1841 University of Roorkee 1847 University of Calcutta 1857 University of Bombay 1857 (University of Mumbai) University of Madras 1857 (University of Chennai) King Edward Medical University, Lahore 1860 Government College University, Lahore 1864 Forman Christian College, Lahore 1864 Muir Central College 1873-5 (University of Allahabad) Rajshahi College 1873 University of Yangon 1878 University of Punjab 1882 Bangalore University 1886 King George's Medical University 1911 University of Delhi 1922
China undermining the Hungarian economic sovereignty lol. So it's ok when EU does it but not when China? How dare they? Double standards...Also debt trap diplomacy? You mean like IMF and World Bank debt trap diplomacy?
Yes, NYU is totally ok to have Shanghai campus, because western culture is angel culture of justice not like Chinese culture. And all these university has nothing to do with culture exchange...
Western culture: angel culture of justice. Also westerner: slaved 12 million African, colonized half of the world, killed 100 million native American,800000 Japanese civilians, 2 million Vietnamese civilians,929000 Middle Eastern civilians
@@jaymarx I agree that culture exchange is really important, and I think we should do more to enable it. The argument is not that the institution would brainwash students or facilitate negative culture exchange, but that building a university that is tied to a particular party in a particular foreign government means that a country (Hungary in this case) is building an alliance or a relationship with that party. In the case of Hungary, they would be taking a large debt (from China) to build a university that has ties to an external country's ruling party. Why not just build their own university, giving jobs to Hungarians for the construction? This alliance/relationship may not be in tune with the country's best interests or their constituent's view on foreign policy. With a private institution, the building of the campus is footed by a private company and has nothing to do with political allegiances, it is run almost purely for profit.
@@arturo7250 the different is if we are in debt from private company means we deserve it, since we already know their goal is purely profit, but if a government set debt trap, they will get bad reputation fast and their international influence will be weaken. Though we already assume Chinese government is evil in the future, so it’s harder to get over the bias.
I agree, though I can't shake the feeling that you don't care about other superpowers educating in the eu. The US has many universities also one that you mentioned the central European university. If we bann all outside unis to educate our European citizens in European schools I would absolutely agree, but to just target one country and one side and say: "no we can't have THEM (China) educate us, but THEY (America) are of course welocme" seems idiotic to me
They are part of Western liberal university culture. China is the antithesis of free thinking, a totalitarian brainwashing indoctrination machine. If you cant see the difference between traditional Western universities and CCP run indoctrination factories, then youre already too far gone
In Africa, debt-trap diplomacy isn't actually a reality. Many assume that African governemtns "won't be able to pay back the debt", but that assumption stems from racism and colonialism. Further, the terms of Chinese loans are comparable to those that the IMF and its subsidaries provide. Even if the loan defaulted, it's not like controlling around 5% of a countries entire debt could have any practical implications.
Yeah see the problem is china is the bad guy. So when bad guy does things its bad. When the west does things its good because they are the good guys. I never have to logically think about anything aslong as the media tells me who is the good guy and whos the bad guy.
@@cerveauy8782 I don't know about that. Sounds like some bad are worse than others. 1. Take a loan from China, have them build some huge infrastructure. Fail to pay the instalments. China takes what they build and run it for 50 years. Then hands it back. 2. Take a loan from the west. Fail to pay it back. They force you to auction off at firesale prices any profitable assets you have, leaving you with the loss making ones that nobody wants. Supposedly, this will help reduce debts and improve the country's finances. But remember, they made you auction off all your productive assets, leaving just the unproductive ones. This sounds worse. At least, with China, you only lose temporary control of the new thing they built. You are in fact not worse off than before. or 3. go beg western companies to build some giant factory in your country. Offer them free land, tax exemptions. This is like (2), but instead you have jumped straight to "hand the asset over". This also sounds worse. And furthermore, this is forever. The foreign company will never hand anything back. If they leave, they will sell the land and pocket the money. Calling it debt-trap makes it sound very bad. But it is in fact the least bad option. There is also option 4. Let your people continue try to scratch out a living, ploughing the land with sticks like North Korea. Again, 2 sounds least bad. I wish the west would stop talking and put their money down. Compete with China and offer a better deal.
@Ebbe B Not very likely. He probably won't have a 2/3 again though, just simple majority. I say this because the opposition party's coalition is not working together well enough, too much inside conflict, they can't provide a real alternative to the people. Their only message is: Down with Orbán! Thats it. You can't win like that. Also the Fidesz- Kdnp party still has a very strong advertisment campiagn and controlling much of the media.
@@salvi1398 'the sake of democracy' - how does a guy being voted in or not kill democracy??? Like OK - he's pro-China, so if the Hungarian masses disagree with his policies then they'll vote him out - but like how is him being voted in or not in anyway related to Hungary's democracy? Orban isn't rigging elections or centralizing power so what's the relation with democracy???
So it's okay for European and american universities to plant campuses everywhere in the world, but If China does it it's subjected to doubt and speculation ?
this would not be a problem with if china also allowed other countries' university on their soil. other countries' campus are allowed to be built in America, we allow it because we know the education is inferior and have nothing to fear
@@mkane212 Duke University has a campus in kunshan, Liverpool University has one in Suzhou, Nottingham University has one in Ningbo, and there are more. Check your facts!
@@adelzaidi3462 all these 3 schools are partnership with very strong Chinese oversight. They don’t offer any social sciences or humanities courses which is where diversity of thought usually happens
@@mkane212 Again check your facts! as a matter of fact. I've been to the nottingham-ningbo university and the whole administration is completely british and nothing it might be overseen by the minsitry of education ( as it is normal), but nothing is dictated by the governement. and they do offer social sciences degrees and humanities. you just go check their websites at least, then talk!
Why shd the world have European universities. Why shd world governments pay for European universities on their land. When Europe can't accept to do the same. ?
people are silly. How is a global superpower investing in your failing economy bad ? how is this project sacrificing the locals ? Who do you think will be studying in it ?
they are loaning the money with interest to build a propaganda center belonging to foreign power... how is that something people should be happy about?
@@irek1394 damn is that a new nickname for university ? Maybe you ought to stop being scared of Chinese propaganda and take the time to realize you're brainwashed by the western propaganda machine which is just as bad if not worse cuz it's that much more effective cuz it tricks everyone without them knowing. Hating and banning things just because they're Chinese is trendy and baseless. As soon as it's not in your politicians interests they'll wail a different song. Stop being racist towards anyone who isn't white
It’s not because we are racists. The problems are the following: they want to fund the project directly or indirectly (Chinese loan) from our taxes, constructed by Chinese companies from Chinese material (0 profit for Hungarian companies). Who will be studying in it? 99% foreign students, because the fees are going to be around 5 times more than the average Hungarian tuition fees. How is this better than the original plan, which would solve a real problem, namely the housing problems among local students?
@@gergo_hesz well even if your assumption is correct, the country still benefits more than It loses. You might think your current leader is a villain with horns, but you should probably agree that even he must have a plan or idea as to why he would do all this even risking his seat for it. Why did nobody complain about building a massive Olympic field and housing for the olympists ? It was gonna also put stress and construction costs the country can't afford. More so than this project since china is doing everything your country just brings the land and the infrastructure. I want you to honestly tell me whether there is a big part of the complaints caused by the sole fact it's china and let's say not another EU country and also the fear mongering caused by leaders of other parties who want to make it look worse than it is for their benefit. This project pumps money into the country in the long run and if successful enough the money that comes in from supposed foreigner only university will be enough to make your whole capital student dorms. ( Idk why students have to live in specifically made for student housing anyways)
I'm Hungarian. I think: Most Hungarians are afraid. And most prefer hospitals rather than stadiums. Hungarians want to make our education better. There are pros and cons. They borrow from China to build the school. We have to repay that money. Our money goes for it. We have heard a lot about the credit crunch in China. However, I think it may be a good start because it can help the quality of Hungary. Maybe if there is a change of government and we don’t get an Orban again, our country could finally develop. (Sorry my bad English. And if I'm stupid xD)
@@user-nv5iz4ss2s good question. I dont know how much value is in the name of the universities. There may be strict controls in place by the government. These could also extend to universities outside of china. As far as I know there are no politicans in western universities. Its more of a monetary control. Projects of interest receive funds. Also there are university rankings that may be used to determine importance.
@@user-nv5iz4ss2s people believe things because of propaganda. other people know things because of science and education. I dont really care about believers. People need to be educated and Universities should work against propaganda and stupidity. Thats why they need to be free of state influence. US people believe in propaganda because of the pledge to the flag every morning in school. In germany this is unthinkable. Germany learned that nationalism is bad. I would agree that US internal politics are lacking on many fronts. Native people need to be supported much more. Yes the US has a dark past. But so has every other country. No country on earth is truly innocent. People only believe that through propaganda.
There are european universities in China, yet the other way round is controversial apparently. And we say we our media is objective... (this isnt directed at the video, just in general.
Not the fact of coming a Chinese university to Budapest is controversial, rather the way the hungarian goverment handeled it. They choose to put the chinese relations first, before their people's need ( i.e accommodation for hungarian students, taking chinese loans.)
