Giorgia Meloni, Prime Minister of Italy, has to make a difficult selection
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Italy’s relatively surprising decision to join China’s Belt and Road Initiative a number of years ago is being brought to the fore again, with a deadline potentially end it is fast approaching under the brand new leadership of Rome.
Italy has previously been described as “medium power bridge. utilized by Beijing and Moscow to conclude agreements with a rustic that is a member of NATO, the European Union and the G-7 group of developed economies.
In 2019, Rome shocked all the Western world when it joined the BRI, China’s massive infrastructure and investment plan to expand its influence all over the world. On the time, analysts said that by joining the project, Italy was weakening Europe’s ability to rise up to Beijing.
When former European Central Bank President Mario Draghi took power in Rome in 2021, he froze the deal and conducted a critical review of Chinese investment within the country — with vetoed at the very least three Chinese takeovers last 12 months.
Two years later, with a latest government, Rome is rethinking its relationship with China.
“This is a really controversial issue for the Italian government,” Silvia Menegazzi, a professor of diplomacy and Chinese studies at Luiss University, said over the phone, adding that it was for one key reason: Taiwan.
China sees Taiwan as a breakaway province, while Taiwan sees itself as separate from China, which has ruled itself since separating from the mainland in 1949 after a protracted civil war. Tensions between the 2 have built up through the years, and visits by high-ranking US politicians to Taiwan have drawn the ire of Beijing.
said the brand new Prime Minister of Italy, Giorgia Meloni via Twitter prior to her election in September – and standing next to the representative from Taiwan – that he is on the side of those that consider in democracy.
If Italy opts for closer ties with Taiwan, it would actually jeopardize its relationship with China. At the identical time, deepening investment ties with Beijing could also be contrary to what Meloni promised in his pre-election campaign.
In April, a delegation of Italian politicians was to leave for Taiwan. But according to media reports, the trip was postponed to an indefinite date.
“I feel they could determine nothing,” Menegazzi said, suggesting that the Italian government would proceed to take part in the Belt and Road program in the intervening time.
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Under agreement each parties can terminate the agreement after five years, otherwise the partnership can be renewed for an additional five-year period. Italy has until the top of 2023 to tell China whether it wants to end the deal.
In 2022, before his election, Meloni said joining the BRI was a “big mistake”.
“Since becoming prime minister, she has chosen to present herself as allied with the US on the Chinese front. Nonetheless, it is under pressure from its coalition partners, [Lega’s Matteo] Salvini and [Forza Italia’s Silvio] Berlusconi, whose voters are more lenient to China’s interest in closer economic ties through the Belt and Road Initiative,” Alberto Alemanno, a professor of EU law at HEC’s business school, said by email.
The prime minister’s office was not immediately available for comment when contacted by CNBC on Wednesday. Meloni is in coalition with two other right-wing parties: Lega and Forza Italia.
The long run of EU-China relations
The approaching decision for Rome comes at a time when the broader European Union is shaping latest relations with China. It is increasingly difficult for the bloc to attack a united front towards Beijing, with some nations favoring economic ties and others clamoring for a more critical approach.
In 2022, China was the EU’s largest source of imports and the third largest buyer of EU goods, underlining Beijing’s economic importance to Europe. This is particularly relevant when EU economic growth is vulnerable to the continued war in Ukraine.
This economic argument is also supported by those that consider that an in depth relationship with Beijing is needed to make progress on climate policy.
But according to many European governments, China could and should do more to support Ukraine after the Russian invasion. China has failed to condemn Russia’s attack on its neighbor, and during a visit to Moscow in March, Chinese leader Xi Jinping called his Russian counterpart a pricey friend.
As well as, Beijing proposed a 12-point peace plan for the war with Ukraine. The plan doesn’t specify whether Russia needs to leave Ukraine for the deal to be finalized. Ukraine has made it clear that it would not agree to any peace deal that doesn’t involve regaining full control over its territory.
As well as, the US is putting additional pressure on EU countries to be more critical of China in step with national security concerns. Countries in Europe that care about healthy transatlantic relations may have no problem following this path.