Local district mayor Krisztina Baranyi walks across the site where the construction of a top Chinese university, the Fudan鈥檚 campus, is planned, in the 9th district of Budapest, Hungary, on April 23, 2021. Currently derelict, the area is to house a half-million-square-meter (five-million-square-feet) complex by 2024, Fudan鈥檚 first European campus, according to a deal signed between Hungary and the Shanghai-based university鈥檚 president last week. Photo by ATTILA KISBENEDEK / AFP
BUDAPEST 鈥� Standing on the proposed new home in Budapest of a top Chinese university, the local district mayor Krisztina Baranyi is squaring up for a stand-off with powerful Prime Minister Viktor Orban鈥檚 government.
鈥淭hey want to plant a giga-university without anyone here agreeing to it,鈥� Baranyi, a combative independent politician, told AFP at the windswept former industrial site beside the river Danube.
Currently derelict, the area is to house Fudan University鈥檚 first European campus in a half-million-square-meter (five-million-square-foot) complex by 2024, according to a deal signed between Hungary and the Shanghai-based university鈥檚 president last week.
But the sprawling project has fed growing unease about Hungary鈥檚 diplomatic tilt from West to East and its soaring indebtedness to China.
Internal documents leaked to investigative journalism website Direkt36 last month revealed that China is expected to give a 1.3-billion-euro ($1.6-billion) loan to cover most of the estimated 1.5-billion-euro costs.
A Chinese construction firm has also already been earmarked as main contractor without a bidding process, according to the documents.
鈥楴o plan B鈥�
鈥淚 was shocked when I found out. Everything is opaque. No one was consulted,鈥� Baranyi complained.
She plans to let local residents have their say on whether the municipality should hand over the site to the state in a referendum later this year.
鈥淚f local people said 鈥榥o鈥�, it would surely be a step too far, even for the government, to then infringe the district鈥檚 ownership rights,鈥� she said.
Details of the referendum are yet to be worked out but Baranyi hopes it could emulate the success of a 2017 petition launched by young activists that led to Hungary dropping its expensive bid to host the 2024 Olympics.
Budapest鈥檚 liberal mayor Gergely Karacsony has also blasted 鈥淐hinese influence-buying鈥� in Hungary and urged Orban not to force projects on the capital against its will.
鈥淯ntil the government fully publishes the contract details, we do not consent to the construction,鈥� Karacsony said last week.
However, other than backing the district鈥檚 referendum drive, city officials privately concede that they have limited powers to block the project, whose cost exceeds Hungary鈥檚 annual higher education budget.
The government argues that a prestigious outpost of Fudan University, ranked 100th in the Shanghai Ranking, would permit thousands of Hungarian, Chinese and other international students to acquire high-quality diplomas.
It would also fit in with previously agreed plans to build a 10,000-capacity dormitory for Hungarian students at the site, it says.
鈥淭here is no plan B,鈥� said the government minister in charge of the project Laszlo Palkovics last week, adding the campus would be 鈥済ood for Hungary, China and the community鈥�.
鈥楲ost economic sovereignty鈥�
Fudan is the latest landmark in Orban鈥檚 foreign policy of 鈥淓astern Opening鈥�, which analysts describe as a geopolitical balancing act, while critics portray the nationalist premier as China and Russia鈥檚 鈥淭rojan horse鈥� inside the European Union and NATO.
Alone in the EU, Hungary has used Chinese and Russian coronavirus jabs to accelerate its vaccine rollout, one of the fastest in the bloc.
Russia鈥檚 nuclear agency Rosatom is expanding Hungary鈥檚 only nuclear power plant with a massive Russian state loan, while Budapest brushes off US fears that Chinese telecoms giant Huawei鈥檚 involvement in its 5G mobile network rollout can pose national security risks.
Another vast project, a high-speed railway between Budapest and Serbia, part of Beijing鈥檚 鈥淏elt and Road鈥� global infrastructure plan to help deliver Chinese goods to Europe, is also mostly financed by a two-billion-euro Chinese loan.
But with Chinese workers set to build the university campus and Hungarian taxpayers footing the bill 鈥渋t is hard to see any advantage for Hungary in Fudan,鈥� a Budapest-based analyst Peter Kreko told AFP.
He said that the loan also meant a 鈥渓oss of economic sovereignty鈥� and pointed to Budapest鈥檚 stated rejection of the EU鈥檚 coronavirus recovery credit line last week as a signal it preferred debt 鈥渨ithout strings attached like 鈥榬ule-of-law鈥� conditions鈥�.
鈥淲e are becoming extremely indebted to China, and that can be dangerous,鈥� Kreko added.
鈥楩reedom of thought鈥� deleted
The courting of Fudan, which deleted references to 鈥渇reedom of thought鈥� from its charter in 2019, also compounds rising alarm about academic freedom in Hungary.
Fudan provides China with 鈥渁 foothold to spread its influence in Europe鈥�, the US embassy in Budapest warned last week.
The Hungarian parliament, dominated by Orban鈥檚 Fidesz party, also approved last week the transfer of most state-run universities into lavishly funded pro-government quasi-private foundations.
The foundations should avoid an 鈥渋nternationalist globalist鈥� approach and focus on 鈥渘ational interest鈥� and 鈥渘ational thinking,鈥� Orban said Friday.
In late 2018, the Central European University, founded by liberal US billionaire George Soros, said it was 鈥渇orced out鈥� of Budapest to Vienna after a bitter legal dispute with Orban.