Vučić's Visit to Beijing: China Builds Up Its Balkan Foothold to Derail U.S. Strategic Aims

From May 24 to 28, 2026, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić paid a visit to China, his ninth since taking office and his first as an official state visit. The trip coincided with a renewed wave of student protests in Serbia.

On May 23, 2026, the day before Vučić departed for Beijing, tens of thousands of people took to the streets of Belgrade demanding early elections. This wave is a logical continuation of the mass anti-corruption movement that emerged after the collapse of the canopy at the Novi Sad railway station in November 2024, which killed 16 people.

The protests gained additional momentum from Viktor Orbán’s departure from power and Péter Magyar’s victory in Hungary in April 2026, an event that opened a prospect for opposition and pro-democracy forces in Central Europe and the Balkans to recalibrate regional dynamics and roll back the pro-authoritarian trend.