The Hungarian government quietly hosted a delegation of Chinese Communist Party officials who preside over Beijing’s policies in the Xinjiang region this month, including one figure who was sanctioned for his role in the abuses there.
The Xinjiang delegation’s visit to Hungary took place September 4–6, Voice of America reported, citing the Xinjiang Daily, a party propaganda arm dedicated to the region. The visiting CCP delegation emphasized Xinjiang’s key role in China’s Belt and Road Initiative — the economic-development project with which Beijing is increasing its influence globally.
U.S. ambassador to Hungary David Pressman slammed Budapest’s decision to host the sanctioned Chinese official on Twitter today, while also criticizing other moves recently taken by the Hungarian government that align it further with Beijing and Moscow.
Over the past few weeks, Hungarian officials have:
▪️ Hosted in Budapest a (sanctioned) Chinese Communist Party official complicit in genocide.
▪️ Received an award from Putin enabler Patriarch Kirill.
▪️ Embraced Russia’s foreign minister – and encouraged others to do the… pic.twitter.com/Dvh1xgPinS— Ambassador David Pressman (@USAmbHungary) September 25, 2023
Pressman has frequently criticized the Hungarian government’s approach to LGBT issues, democracy, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
He noted in his tweet that a Hungarian official “hosted in Budapest a (sanctioned) Chinese Communist Party official complicit in genocide,” while also posting a picture of Xinjiang region chairman Erken Tuniyaz with Hungarian minister of economic development Marton Nagy. A State Department spokesman told National Review that State has nothing to add to Pressman’s comments.
Tuniyaz was sanctioned by the U.S. government in 2021 for his role in the Uyghur genocide. During his tenure, the Treasury Department said in the notice that he’d been added to its sanctions list, “more than one million Uyghurs and members of other predominantly Muslim ethnic minority groups have been detained in Xinjiang.”
While the addition of Tuniyaz to the U.S.’s specially designated nationals list means that he is barred from visiting the U.S., he is still free to visit other countries, including NATO members that have not applied similar sanctions to him.
Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán has vociferously defended his government’s effort to build a closer diplomatic and economic relationship with China. Tamas Matura, a senior fellow with the Center for European Policy Analysis, told VOA that the Xinjiang delegation’s visit is related to what he characterized as the rising number of Chinese electric-vehicle-battery companies in Hungary.
Hungary has also embraced the Chinese telecom company Huawei, giving short shrift to the Trump administration’s concerns about the potential use of the firm’s equipment for espionage purposes.
During an interview with China’s CGTN propaganda outlet in July, Hungarian foreign minister Peter Szijjarto said he was “really honored” to be the first European foreign minister to sign an agreement pledging Hungary’s cooperation with the Belt and Road Initiative.