China encircling Eastern Europe, warns former Polish leader Walesa

Beijing and West vie to set new rules for globalization

20180705 china train

A worker walks through the construction site of a railway line between Budapest and Belgrade, a project financed mainly by China. 

JUN ISHIKAWA, Nikkei staff writer

GDANSK, Poland -- Beijing's extensive investment in Central and Eastern Europe under its Belt and Road Initiative is creating a growing sense of unease in the region.

"China is trying to encircle various countries in its sphere of interest," according to former Polish President Lech Walesa, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1983 for his leadership of the country's pro-democracy movement.

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