In Hungary it is hailed as the “Eastward Opening”. Serbian authorities see it as the glue in a “reliable friendship”, while the Polish government describes it as a “tremendous opportunity”. Yet the 16+1, a grouping of 16 central and eastern European countries led by China, receives more caustic reviews in leading EU capitals, with diplomats fearing it could be exploited by Beijing to undermine union rules and take advantage of growing east-west tensions in the pact itself.
Financial Times: Brussels rattled as China reaches out to eastern Europe
Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao and his Polish counterpart Donald Tusk take part in a meeting of China-Central Europe prime ministers at the Royal Castle in Warsaw on April 26, 2012.
