Meg Hanson writes in today’s Wall Street Journal about Hungary taking strong turns towards imperial China. Viktor Orban, Hungary’s Prime Minister, has made news recently with his trips to see Vladmir Putin in Russia. From perspectives steeped in experience from Hungary, Ms. Hanson illuminates Orban’s coddling by and kowtowing to Chinese programs. We may never learn the depths of that coddling. At one time, at least one Chinese telecommunications company, was reported to have a “chief bribery officer.”

From the Communist Party of China’s (CPC) view, its allocations of capital for leaders like Orban are paying off well. The CPC, through strategic offensives like its One Belt, One Road (OBOR) program, uses loans and equity investments to secure favors. OBOR’s financial commitments exceeded $1 trillion a few years ago. Today, investment through that single CPC program alone may exceed $2 trillion.

Americans should cast aside illusions about a “Belt and Road Initiative,” the propagandized name for OBOR, and recognize that, as a strategic offensive, OBOR is a “My Way or the Highway” initiative endangering liberties around the world.