Chinese leaders ended two days of meetings with leaders from eastern Europe on Tuesday with promises of $3bn in investment funds, in a diplomatic push welcomed in the region but viewed warily in Brussels.
中国领导人周二结束与东欧领导人的两天峰会,承诺30亿美元的投资基金,这一外交努力在东欧地区受到欢迎,但布鲁塞尔对此抱有戒心。
The summit, which brought together Li Keqiang, China’s premier, and 16 leaders from central and eastern Europe countries in Budapest, Hungary’s capital, has highlighted Beijing’s ambitions to extend its influence in the region.
此次峰会在匈牙利首都布达佩斯举行,汇聚了中国总理李克强和来自中东欧国家的16位领导人。峰会突显了北京方面在该地区扩大影响力的雄心。
Even before the “16+1” summit, roughly $15bn in investment by Chinese companies, backed by state banks, had been promised to the region since 2012, according to one estimate.
据估计,即使在“16+1”峰会之前,中国企业在国家银行支持下,自2012年以来就已向该地区承诺大约150亿美元的投资。
Viktor Orban, Hungarian prime minister, who hosted the summit, said all European countries were in “harsh competition” for Chinese investment, even if not all admitted it.
主持这次峰会的匈牙利总理欧尔班?维克托(Viktor Orban)表示,所有欧洲国家都在为获得中国投资而“激烈竞争”,尽管并非所有国家都承认这一点。
“[Hungary’s] competitive position regarding relations with China is especially strong,” he said, in a press statement with Mr Li on Tuesday evening.
“就与中国的关系而言,匈牙利的竞争地位尤为强大,”他在周二晚间与李克强发布的新闻声明中表示。
Beijing’s “One Belt, One Road” policy aims to strengthen commercial and political ties with more than 64 countries between Asia and Europe. For Europe’s poorer eastern countries, the promised investment could help to upgrade dilapidated railways, motorways and energy plants.
北京方面的“一带一路”政策旨在加强与欧亚64个国家的商业和政治关系。对于欧洲较贫穷的国家而言,中方承诺的投资可能有助于升级破败的铁路、高速公路和能源工厂。
But western diplomats fear that China’s eastern Europe investment pledge entails a diplomatic strategy to influence a subset of EU member states and undermine the bloc’s fragile consensus on contentious political questions.
但西方外交官担心,中国的东欧投资承诺夹杂着一项外交战略,目的是影响一部分欧盟成员国,破坏欧盟在有争议的政治问题上达成的脆弱共识。