In recent years, authorities in several Western countries have uncovered covert operations, conducted by the Chinese intelligence-linked United Front, in which individuals and organizations linked to the unit have sought to illegally obtain information and influence local political processes.
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A recent report by the Czech counterintelligence service also specifically names the United Front as having carried out covert operations in the Czech Republic in support of Chinese intelligence operations.
Hungary’s government, which is increasingly close to China, is not known to have ever taken action against the United Front. [However, investigations] can reveal that this unit of the Chinese Communist Party is also working extensively in Hungary.
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[The investigations included a] document leaked to an online hacker forum that contained the names of more than two thousand individuals who run Chinese associations abroad – and who allegedly had links to the United Front.
For a significant number of the names on the list, journalists and researchers were able to use public sources to confirm that individuals and organizations are indeed linked to this unit of the Chinese Communist Party. In Hungary, 56 such individuals and 26 associations were identified, including organizations engaging in business, political and cultural activities. Among those identified were a businessman who owns several department stores, other entrepreneurs and journalists and staff of Chinese-language newspapers operating in Hungary.
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According to experts, the Chinese Communist Party has been actively involved in the creation of several Chinese associations operating in Hungary.
Pál Nyíri, a professor at Corvinus University in Budapest, said these associations were originally set up by Chinese businessmen who settled abroad but wanted to do business with the Chinese government and party organizations. Those who joined the associations hoped to gain some sort of advantage in, for example, the procurement of goods by greeting Chinese party and state delegations. According to Nyíri, they also saw the potential for social advancement in having their picture taken with such important people.
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** With the Orbán government’s increasingly close ties to China, the Chinese Communist Party has less need for these organizations for political influence in Hungary (compared to in Western countries more critical of China). Even so, local organizations with links to the United Front are trying to shape Hungarian public opinion on China-related issues.**
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Back in 2021, [...] the Hungarian government had secretly agreed to build the Budapest campus of Shanghai’s Fudan University in the capital’s 9th district with a €1.3 billion (HUF 500 billion) Chinese loan. In protest against the plan, district mayor Krisztina Baranyi named the public spaces surrounding the planned site after communities and leaders oppressed by China. These included the Uyghur Martyrs’ Road and Dalai Lama Road.
Several Chinese associations in Hungary protested against this. Baranyi received a letter signed by the leaders of 16 Chinese associations in Hungary, who claim to be “representatives of the 40,000-strong Chinese community.” They have asked Baranyi to reconsider renaming the streets surrounding the planned Fudan University campus, insisting that doing so offends China’s political views.
“We have to meet the political thinking of the host country, but also the expectations of the mother country, China. Therefore, we felt bad when the names of the streets surrounding the Fudan University area were changed in a way that was incompatible with the political thinking of the motherland,” they wrote in the letter. Ten signatories were from organizations that Direkt36 identified as being linked to the United Front.
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Several Chinese associations in Hungary were also involved in organizing the visit [of Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinpinkg] in May. Márton Tompos, a member of Hungarian parliament, spotted in reports on the internet that the Hungarian Qingtian Association was responsible for coordinating the “security and welcome team” during Xi’s visit. The articles specifically mentioned the association’s secretary-general, Fan Qiaoxiong, who was quoted in one of the largest Chinese portals as the contact officer of the alleged Golgota Road police station.
During the visit, neither Hungarian authorities nor the Chinese organizers left any room for dissenting opinions. During Xi’s visit, the Tibet Supporter Society (Tibetet Segítő Társaság) planned several days of demonstrations, but the police refused their request to display Tibetan flags along the convoy’s route.
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[Sociologist Fanni] Beck stressed that it is not at all common for Chinese people living in Hungary to participate in the activities of the United Front. “The people I meet come here because they don’t like the Chinese system. They avoid these associations as far as possible,” the sociologist said.