(TibetanReview.net, May10’24) —Chinese people not only turned up in strength to welcome their President Xi Jinping who arrived for a state visit to Budapest on May 8 evening but also harassed and bullied Tibet protesters and others as well while the country’s police joined force with them, according to various media reports.
Tímea Szabó, co-chairman of the opposition party Párbeszéd, hung a Tibetan flag from his window on May 8 and within minutes received threats from the Speaker of the Hungarian House of Representatives László Kövér and the secret service, reported dailynewshungary.com May 9.
Before the arrival of Xi for a ceremonial welcome on May 9, Tibor Hendrey, president of the Tibet Aid Society (Tibeti Segítő Társaság), stretched the Tibetan flag on the cross fence in Gellért Hill. However, within minutes Chinese activists covered it with the Chinese flag.
The report cited Hendrey as saying later that he was searched by police three times that day. The report also cited witnesses as saying the police only looked for Hungarians at the scene, and no Chinese at all.
Pro-China activists waved at least 16 Chinese flags to hide from view Tibetan flags the protesters were holding, reported the Tibetan service of rfa.org May 9.
Also, Tibetan protesters tried to hoist a “Free Tibet” banner along with the Tibetan flag on the Elizabeth Bridge, under which Xi’s motorcade would have had to pass on its way to the presidential palace in Budapest on May 9 morning. But the Chinese activists disrupted them again, the report said.
“These guys just came and ripped our banner, and they are still allowed to be here, pushing us further and further out,” Chime Lhamo, campaigns director of Students for Free Tibet, has told journalists on the street. “Is this a free country?”
Hungarian police standing nearby did not intervene, the report added.
After the street encounter, the protesters were followed by what appeared to be about eight undercover police officers on their way to the Budapest airport, one of them has said.
In fact, “over the last few days, we were followed, harassed and intimidated by undercover Hungarian police, as well as Chinese people and police everywhere in the city,” Tenzin Yangzom from the International Tibet Network has said. “Everywhere in the city is swarmed by them.”
“We had come here to peacefully protest Xi’s genocidal policies in Tibet, East Turkistan, Hong Kong and beyond and the treatment of Tibetans, Hong Kongers, Uyghurs and Chinese people,” she has added.
Márton Tompos, vice-president of the opposition party Momentum, wanted to place the EU flag at the Elisabeth Bridge in Budapest but was prevented by Chinese volunteers wearing red caps working for their embassy. He was even asked which flags he wanted to put up and why, said the dailynewshungary.com report.
It appears that no flags other than those of China will be displayed in Budapest while Xi is in town, the report added.
“Budapest is full of Chinese volunteer gendarmes wearing red caps to protect Xi Jinping, known as Winnie the Pooh, from the ‘unfriendly’ Tibetan and Taiwanese flags,” Tompos was stated to have written in a video post.
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This year marks the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Hungary and the two countries have decided to elevate bilateral relations to an all-weather comprehensive strategic partnership for the new era during Xi’s meeting with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
Frequently at loggerheads with the EU, Orban has been advocating an “Eastern opening” foreign policy since his return to power in 2010, seeking closer economic ties with China, Russia and other Asian countries.
Beijing has invested billions in Hungary and sees the EU member as an important foothold inside the 27-member trading bloc. In December, Hungary announced that one of the world’s largest EV manufacturers, China’s BYD, will open its first European EV production factory in the south of the country — an inroad that could upend the competitiveness of the continent’s auto industry, noted the AP May 9.
The state visit to Hungary is the last leg of Xi’s current European tour after France and Serbia, his first since 2019.
His visit to France, marking 60th year of establishing diplomatic relations, was cordial but also highlighted tensions between Beijing and the EU over the war in Ukraine and global trade.
His visit to non-EU, non-NATO member Serbia, known for its stanch alliance with Russia, took place on the 25th anniversary of NATO’s accidental bombing of the Chinese embassy at Belgrade during the Yugoslavia conflict, which Xi said his country will never forget despite the issue being settled with payment of compensations.