Italy: Joining China's "Belt and Road" is a "rough" decision

Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto said in an interview published on Sunday that Italy made "sloppy and terribly bad decisions" when it joined China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) four years ago. ” because it did not give any boost to Italian exports.

The previous government of Italy signed the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), becoming the only major Western country to take this initiative. The current government, Guido Crosetto, is one of them, and they are looking at how to get out of the agreement.

The Belt and Road Initiative aims to rebuild the ancient Silk Road, linking China to Asia, Europe and beyond, through massive infrastructure investments. However, the initiative has also drawn some criticism that it is a tool for China to expand its geopolitical and economic influence.

Crosetto told Corriere de Corriere that "the decision to join China's new Silk Road was a temporary, crude and unpleasant act", which led to an increase in Chinese exports to Italy, which in turn But not noticeable.

The question today, according to the defense minister, is how to withdraw participation from the Belt and Road Initiative without compromising relations with Beijing. Because China is indeed a competitor, but it is also a partner.

After meeting U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House on Thursday, Italian Prime Minister Giorgio Meloni said the Italian government had until December to make a decision on the Belt and Road Initiative, announcing that she would travel to Beijing for talks with China .

In an interview with Italy's TG5 news program on Saturday, Meloni said that Italy's trade relationship with China is not as close as other G7 countries, but it is involved in China's Belt and Road Initiative, which is a strange phenomenon that is contradictory and unreasonable.

She added: "This shows that even without participating in the Belt and Road Initiative, there are still other channels between countries to build mutually beneficial and win-win cooperation."

(Compilation: Chen Bingxuan)

(Editor in charge: Jiang Qiming)

(Source of the article: New Sancai first release)