Hungary’s leader to roll out red carpet for China's Xi during Europe tour, but not all agree

(8 May 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Budapest - 8 May 2024
1. Wide of Chinese and Hungarian flags flying over Erzsebet bridge
2. People looking at river
3. Wide of boat in front of royal castle of Budapest
4. View of downtown and river
5. Various of Chinese and Hungarian flags flying on bridge, people walking
6. SOUNDBITE (Hungarian) Katalin Sulyok, Budapest resident:
"I am happy with the relationship (with China). Maybe the country will recover a little bit economically, because they have brought a lot of money. I hope that this new relationship will be very good for us.”
7. Various of Chinese and Hungarian flags flying on bridge
8. SOUNDBITE (Hungarian) Jozsef Garai, Fot resident:
”I think keeping a good relationship is definitely good. I am definitely happy about that. However, I have reservations about this, especially because business details are not known for the public, many tenders are secret. Like the construction of the Belgrade-Budapest railway line. They should not make business like this.”
9. Tilt up to protester draped in Tibetan flag
10. Wide of protester holding sign reading (Hungarian): "Freedom for Tibet"
11. Free Tibet banner
12. Wide of woman sitting by Tibetan flag
13. Pan of anti-China demonstrators, UPSOUND (English): "We are here in Budapest to protest Orban’s and Xi Jinping’s friendship. Because the leader of a supposedly democratic country, Hungary is friends with a dictator”
14. Demonstrators chanting, UPSOUND (English): "Go home Xi Jinping, go home Xi Jinping!”
15. Protesters shouting, UPSOUND (English): "China, China, China, out, out, out!”
16. SOUNDBITE (Hungarian) Tibor Hendrey, representative of the Tibet Aid Society:
"It is OK to have some economic and political relationship with China. We need a good relationship with a great empire, perhaps the largest empire in the world, it is not a problem. The problem is that China has a completely different culture, a completely different approach to human rights, and I feel that they want to export this kind of thinking here to Hungary, and that the Hungarian government is willing to accept that.”
17. Wide of protest
18. Protesters chanting, UPSOUND (English): "Your time is up, Xi Jinping, your time is up!”
19. Wide of protesters chanting, UPSOUND (English): "Go home Xi Jinping, go home Xi Jinping!”
20. Wide of protesters chanting, UPSOUND (English): "You are not welcome, Xi Jinping, are not welcome!”
21. SOUNDBITE (Hungarian) Tibor Hendrey, representative of the Tibet Aid Society:
"There is democracy in Europe, with all its faults, with all its difficulties. In China, this is not exactly how it works. China is a communist, capitalist, techno hybrid empire. Its behaviour does not seem to have good consequences or a good future. We don't want China to export its practices and ideology to Hungary.”
22. Protesters chanting, UPSOUND (English): "You are not welcome, Xi Jinping, are not welcome, China, China, China, out, out, out!”
23. Wide of people filming protesters
24. Wide of anti-China demonstration, UPSOUND (English): "China, China, China, out, out, out!”
STORYLINE:
Following stops in France and Serbia, Chinese leader Xi Jinping will arrive in Hungary later on Wednesday, where autocratic, right-wing Prime Minister Viktor Orban is seen as China-friendly.
As mainstream European leaders have pursued more protectionist policies to limit Beijing’s reach on the continent, Hungary’s Orban and his populist government, have vigorously courted economic ties with China, inviting major investments and providing inroads for China to enter the European Union's trading bloc.
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[@peterbalogh8138]

Macron also did roll out the red carpet - I reckon that was the "good red carpet", while the one in Hungary was the "bad carpet", no?

[@shineeproductions2671]

First