Cracks Over China Exposed At EU Foreign Ministers' Meeting

The already-clear cracks in the EU's supposedly united front in the face of China were exposed further yesterday when Hungary vetoed a joint statement intended to accuse Beijing of a crackdown on democratic freedoms in Hong Kong.

• German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas called the decision "absolutely incomprehensible", with the statement already having been watered down in tone to try to gain Budapest's approval. To reporters Maas stated that "This is not the first time that Hungary has broken away from [the EU's] unity when it comes to the issue of China, I think everybody can work out for themselves where the reasons are — because there are good relations between China and Hungary".
• EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell stated that he would attempt one more go at securing support from all 27 member states for a resolution on China, but said that if that was not possible then, "we have to take positions that don't reflect unanimity".
• Hungary was the first EU recipient of Chinese COVID-19 vaccines, something that has allowed the country to speed ahead of most other EU peers in its vaccination efforts. The close relations between Budapest and Beijing have also seen Chinese FDI flood into Hungary, but at the expense of many other EU nations' trust in Hungary as a reliable partner when attempting to provide a united European front against Beijing's actions in Hong Kong or Xinjiang.