Meloni minces words over China’s Belt and Road Initiative

By Federica Pascale | EURACTIV.it

31-08-2023 (updated: 31-08-2023 )

News Based on facts, either observed and verified directly by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.

The Italian Prime Minister pointed out that while it is true that Italy is the only G7 country to have joined the Silk Road, it is also true that it is not the G7 or European country with the largest trade interchange with China. [Shutterstock/esfera]

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Italy will have to decide whether or not to renew the ‘Silk Road’ or ‘Belt and Road Initiative’ (BRI) by the end of the year, but Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has shied away from giving a definitive indication of whether her government will sign on the dotted line.

Meloni has been careful not to say whether or not her government will renew the agreement with China, aiming to strengthen political and trade relations and includes dozens of agreements between institutions and businesses. With just a few months to go until the expiration date, she has clarified that trade and friendship with China will continue regardless of what happens.

“I do not foresee our relationship with China becoming more complicated. Between Rome and Beijing, relations are ancient, and there are great and mutual conveniences, not only in the commercial sphere”, Meloni told Sole 24 Ore.

Meloni also finds herself in a difficult position as she was previously vociferously against the signing of the deal, but now, in her role as prime minister, will be keen to avoid unnecessary deterioration of relations with Beijing.

The Italian prime minister said that while it is true that Italy is the only G7 country to have joined the Silk Road, it is also true that it is not the G7 or European country with the largest trade volumes with China.

“There is no direct relationship between that signature and trade relations”, Meloni clarifies, stressing that in any case, the renewal of the agreement will be an issue discussed in parliament and thus a subject of discussion among all political forces.

After that, “we will talk about it with serenity and friendship with the Chinese government, and I am convinced that our relations will continue to be solid”, she adds.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed in 2019 during the first government led by Giuseppe Conte (5-Star Movement) together with Matteo Salvini’s League (ID), now government ally of Meloni and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani (Forza Italia/EPP).

Salvini, Tajani, and Meloni have consistently doubted the agreement and criticised Conte and the 5 Star Movement for choosing to sign.

“Our infrastructure and strategic production must not end up in foreign hands, least of all Chinese. This is the starting point from which we are moving”, MEP Carlo Fidanza, head of the Fratelli d’Italia delegation in Brussels, told EURACTIV in April.

“The EU has defined China as a ‘systemic rival’ and is working for non-hostile relations even in global competition. The choice will be made taking into account both requirements”, he added.

Defense Minister Guido Crosetto, one of the founders of Fratelli d’Italia, also described the decision to join the BRI as “improvised and atrocious”, wishing the government could “turn back” without damaging relations with Beijing.

Trashing the agreements with China, in fact, could damage Italian exports and make Rome invisible to Chinese President Xi Jinping, while renewing them would be an inconsistent move in front of voters and inconvenient concerning Washington, given Meloni’s strongly Atlanticist stance.

However, there have been several criticisms of the premier’s good relations with US President Joe Biden, especially after a photo taken during the G7 in Hiroshima showed them holding hands.

“They may be surprised by those who see foreign policy as a tool to strengthen their party”, such as politicians who “when they had domestic problems sought relief from politically related governments”. But the United States “is among our main allies, always has been, historically and regardless of changing governments”, said Meloni.

(Federica Pascale | EURACTIV.it)

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