Protests against the construction of a Chinese university in Budapest have energized the Hungarian opposition ahead of elections next year, and forced the government into a rare U-turn.
Outrage at plans to build a campus of Shanghai’s Fudan University became a rallying cry for the opposition, drawing thousands to protest in defiance of government regulations.
Protests of more than 500 people are illegal, on COVID-19 prevention grounds, although huge crowds can gather at soccer matches, so organizers planned multiple small protests across Budapest, which came together outside the Hungarian National Assembly in Kossuth Square.
The project has allowed opponents of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban to turn the nationalist rhetoric he has deployed so successfully in the past few decades against his own government.
“The Fudan University issue is about whether we will be a free nation,” Budapest Mayor Gergely Karacsony told the crowd, which was thousands strong.
Protesters carried signs saying “Hungarian money for Hungarian universities” and “We will not be a colony.”
It was a show of strength that apparently alarmed the government. Overnight it changed position, to offer a referendum on the Chinese university, but said that it would be held only after the general elections.
“This is a novel situation. It’s the first time that any Chinese investment has become a high-level political issue in Hungary,” said Peter Kreko, and analyst at the Political Capital think tank. “The government seemed to be pretty committed to go along with this project, until it saw it could be an electoral issue.”
He said the government has a track record of pausing controversial ideas until it feels less politically vulnerable, in this case after the election.
“It’s pretty sure that if they are re-elected they will re-implement it,” he said.
Krisztina Baranyi, a Budapest district mayor, had grabbed global attention for the fight against the Fudan campus by renaming streets around the planned site to commemorate struggles for democracy and human rights inside China, including Dalai Lama Road and Free Hong Kong Road.
She dismissed the referendum promise as a “cheap trick” that aimed to divert attention from intensive planning and asset transfers expected before the poll, and vowed the campaign would continue.
“The people are determined to stop the Fudan [campus]. They came out to protest not because political parties called them, but because this is a project that doesn’t serve the public interest at all. There is nothing useful in it for them, but they have to pay its costs,” she said.
INVESTIGATION: The case is the latest instance of a DPP figure being implicated in an espionage network accused of allegedly leaking information to Chinese intelligence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) member Ho Jen-chieh (何仁傑) was detained and held incommunicado yesterday on suspicion of spying for China during his tenure as assistant to then-minister of foreign affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮). The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said Ho was implicated during its investigation into alleged spying activities by former Presidential Office consultant Wu Shang-yu (吳尚雨). Prosecutors said there is reason to believe Ho breached the National Security Act (國家安全法) by leaking classified Ministry of Foreign Affairs information to Chinese intelligence. Following interrogation, prosecutors petitioned the Taipei District Court to detain Ho, citing concerns over potential collusion or tampering of evidence. The
Seventy percent of middle and elementary schools now conduct English classes entirely in English, the Ministry of Education said, as it encourages schools nationwide to adopt this practice Minister of Education (MOE) Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) is scheduled to present a report on the government’s bilingual education policy to the Legislative Yuan’s Education and Culture Committee today. The report would outline strategies aimed at expanding access to education, reducing regional disparities and improving talent cultivation. Implementation of bilingual education policies has varied across local governments, occasionally drawing public criticism. For example, some schools have required teachers of non-English subjects to pass English proficiency
‘FORM OF PROTEST’: The German Institute Taipei said it was ‘shocked’ to see Nazi symbolism used in connection with political aims as it condemned the incident Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), who led efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), was released on bail of NT$80,000 yesterday amid an outcry over a Nazi armband he wore to questioning the night before. Sung arrived at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning in a recall petition forgery case on Tuesday night wearing a red armband bearing a swastika, carrying a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and giving a Nazi salute. Sung left the building at 1:15am without the armband and apparently covering the book with a coat. This is a serious international scandal and Chinese
TRADE: The premier pledged safeguards on ‘Made in Taiwan’ labeling, anti-dumping measures and stricter export controls to strengthen its position in trade talks Products labeled “made in Taiwan” must be genuinely made in Taiwan, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday, vowing to enforce strict safeguards against “origin laundering” and initiate anti-dumping investigations to prevent China dumping its products in Taiwan. Cho made the remarks in a discussion session with representatives from industries in Kaohsiung. In response to the US government’s recent announcement of “reciprocal” tariffs on its trading partners, President William Lai (賴清德) and Cho last week began a series of consultations with industry leaders nationwide to gather feedback and address concerns. Taiwanese and US officials held a videoconference on Friday evening to discuss the
RSS