In a rare opportunity to directly affect European Union policy priorities, China is about to assume the EU presidency.

OK, that’s only half true. Hungary is actually assuming the presidency of the Council of the European Union. But because Hungary is essentially a Chinese colony in Europe, this is a big opportunity for Beijing. Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s political director excitedly reported a meeting on Wednesday between the prime minister and French President Emmanuel Macron, in which the two men discussed Hungary’s “priorities and goals” for its presidency.

Hungary’s six-month tenure will allow it to set the policy agenda for meetings among the EU’s 27 member states. There is little doubt that China will be a beneficiary of this agenda. The Chinese foreign ministry underlined as much in its read-out of a call between Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó and China’s foreign policy chief, Wang Yi, on Wednesday. It reported Szijjártó’s pledge that “Hungary is willing to take the opportunity of assuming the rotating presidency of the EU to promote mutual understanding between Europe and China, enhance cooperation efficiency, oppose protectionism and insist on resolving trade frictions through dialogue and consultation.”

It doesn’t take a genius to translate what those pledges will mean in practice. Namely, boosting EU-China ties across a range of issues and industries, opposing even limited EU action to impose tariffs on Chinese dumping and subsidized exports into the political union, and resisting U.S. efforts to build greater Western support against China’s global espionage, intellectual property theft, and its imperially vested regional aggression. That these concerns directly affect EU member states is not a concern for Orban’s government. All Orban cares about is keeping Beijing happy so that Chinese trade keeps flowing into his industries and the private bank accounts of his cronies. Orban calls himself a nationalist who cares deeply about sovereignty, but his subservience to China is proven by his willingness to allow the Chinese intelligence services to spy on his citizens.

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This is no small concern for the United States or for those Europeans who believe sovereignty means something more than Orban’s “secure the borders then bow to Beijing” interpretation. Over the next six months, China will continue to threaten U.S. security, intellectual property, Taiwan, and a U.S. treaty ally, the Philippines. Hungary will do all it can to shield China from challenges on these and other issues.

In so doing, Orban will again underline the hypocrisy of American conservatives such as CPAC and the Heritage Foundation, which claim to be tough on China but then worship Orban’s corrupt, Communist-plated throne.