The Chinese are often skillful manipulators of the European Union, leveraging trade to gain European political acquiescence to China on issues such as Taiwan, human rights, and intellectual property theft. With Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban now holding the rotating EU Council presidency, China’s closest European ally will set the high-level EU policy schedules for the next six months.

This bears note amid new Bloomberg reporting on how China is working with Russia to develop drones for Russian military use against Ukraine. While China insists ad infinitum that it is a neutral party to the conflict and wants a ceasefire, the reality is different. China does not want the conflict to escalate, but it does want its Russian partner able to bring the conflict to a quick pro-Moscow resolution.