Instead of hosting a Chinese university campus, South Pest may become a students’ paradise

We reported on Monday that the National Athletics Centre in South Pest was opened to the public with multiple outdoor sports equipment that can serve and entertain kids, adults, athletes and the general public. Now, it seems both the Orbán cabinet and the leadership of the capital are committed to building the promised students’ city near it.

Chinese university campus planned to be built in South Pest

Years ago, it sparked serious public outcry and heated political debates that one of the world’s best universities, the Shanghai-based Fudan University, would open a campus in Budapest. Some politicians claimed the university would spread the Communist ideology in Budapest and Hungary, being a national security threat not only in Hungary but also in the European Union.

Furthermore, the government decided to provide land, teaching and research facilities for the new campus in Budapest’s 9th district and the 21st district, Csepel. What’s more, the location of the new campus would have been in the place of another government promise, the so-called students’ town, which aimed to ease the housing crisis hitting especially university students in Budapest.

Budapest resisted

The opposition-led Budapest municipal council did what it could. They renamed some streets in the future area to Free Hong Kong Road, Uyghur Martyrs’ Road, Dalai Lama Road, and Bishop Xie Shiguang Road, the last referring to a persecuted Chinese Catholic priest.

Moreover, the united opposition wanted to hold a referendum about the Chinese university, but the Supreme Court declined that in May 2022. Later, a similar drive for a Budapest referendum was halted because the Democratic Coalition ceased backing it.

No activity of the Fudan Foundation found

Now, it seems the problem could be solved soon. Despite Hungary having a foundation to run the local campus of Fudan University, the institution does not show signs of life. One of the opposition MPs, Márton Tompos, currently the President of the Momentum Movement, tried to gain more information about the Foundation’s activity after the institution failed to submit its report to the Hungarian National Assembly despite it being their legal obligation. However, MP Tompos could not speak to anybody at the foundation headquarters.