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Hungary is expanding its relationship with Huawei Technologies as well car Chinese battery makers, rejecting international pressure to reduce economic links with China, especially in the telecommunications sector.
Huawei will sponsor a scholarship program at Hungary’s Public Service University in Budapest, which trains students for a career in government, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said in Beijing on Monday. The focus will be on 5G research and innovation, he said.
"We maintain our position on global telecommunications providers, namely that we don’t exclude companies from competition based on their country of origin,” Szijjarto said in a Facebook post after meeting with Huawei officials.
Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s administration has consistently rejected US and EU pressure to cut telecommunications links due to concerns that Chinese security services may monitor the flow of information, an allegation repeatedly rejected by companies like Huawei.
"We want to constantly develop European Union and Chinese cooperation,” Szijjarto said. "That obviously can’t happen if the EU puts Chinese companies on a list for sanctions or export controls.”
Szijjarto commented in a Facebook post ahead of a meeting with Yuqun Zeng, the chairman of battery maker Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd, which announced a €7.3 billion ($7.9 billion) investment in Hungary last year.
Hungary is widely seen as among the most pro-China governments in the EU and is a part of the Chinese global infrastructure project, the Belt and Road Initiative.
