Close to 10,000 in Hungary participated in a mass demonstration on Saturday against the government’s plan to build an overseas branch of a Chinese university in Budapest, with some protesters holding placards denouncing the plan as treasonous.

The protest’s organizer said on Facebook that Hungary’s ruling party, led by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, had sold out Hungarian students and their future, “just so it can bring the elite university of China’s dictatorship into the country.”

The Hungarian government signed an agreement in April with Fudan University in Shanghai to build a campus in Budapest at an estimated cost of US$1.8 billion. The campus, which is expected to be completed in 2024, will be the first overseas outpost of a Chinese university to be established in the European Union.

Patrik, a 22-year-old Hungarian student who participated in the protest, said that he opposed his country strengthening its relations with China. He said that the funds allocated for the project should be used “to improve our own universities instead of building a Chinese one.”

Another protester, 21-year-old Szonja Radics, said that Orbán had disguised himself as an anti-communist, but in reality, he was a friend to the Communist Party.

A deputy minister in Hungary’s government, Tamás Schanda, described Saturday’s protest as unnecessary, adding that baseless rumors and media reports amounted to “political hysteria.”

The plan to build the campus has also come under fire from opposition leaders and economists, who criticized its high cost and lack of transparency. Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony also opposed the plan, warning that it posed a serious risk to national security.

In an act of protest, the mayor rechristened the streets close to the planned campus with names such as “Dalai Lama Road” and “Free Hong Kong Road.”

Beijing has dismissed the opposition to the campus as a “a few Hungarian politicians” trying to seek attention and damage China-Hungary cooperation.

Under Orbán’s leadership, the Hungarian government has strengthened friendly ties with China, Russia and other authoritarian regimes, while Western allies have bristled at Hungary’s suppression of judicial independence and the media.

Click here for Chinese version

---------------------------------

Apple Daily’s all-new English Edition is now available on the mobile app: bit.ly/2yMMfQE

To download the latest version,

iOS: bit.ly/AD_iOS

Android: bit.ly/AD_android

Or search Appledaily in App Store or Google Play