![]() It angered the United States, and, actually, it frustrated China - was expecting to drive a wedge between trans-Atlantic allies but also to potentially build up on Italy-China relations, which did not really happen already in 20.įADEL: So what happens now? How does the Italian government untangle itself here? And so in the process, Italy didn't get the best of both worlds but the worst of both worlds. PUGLIESE: I think it was fundamental already at the time of the very signature because the memorandum was hollowed out, so much so that Italy, the Italian government, including the very populist government, became quite shy then in approaching Beijing to realize some of the provisions of this Italy-China engagement. How much did US pressure contribute to the rethinking? And that fed into a rethink not just in Italy but in all Western capitals about their relationship - in fact, our relationship - with China.įADEL: Now, Italy is the only G-7 nation to join this initiative. And then, as we know, there was also a degree of bad luck because of COVID-19, U.S.-China competition gaining ground and China also engaging in more heavy-handed diplomacy. The problem is that while Italy expected to gain the reap - the best of both worlds with an engagement of China and potentially also political marketing back home, then there was heavy pressure from the United States. So Italy's embrace of the Belt and Road Initiative was really a way to showcase that away from the shackles of the European Union and the impositions by Brussels, Italy, a G-7 country, could go it alone and do a deal with Xi Jinping's signature initiative. PUGLIESE: The coalition, the populist coalition government of 2019 decided that in order to showcase results to the local electorate, it had to engage also into populist foreign policy and to a degree of political marketing. Where did its agreement to join the Belt and Road Initiative go wrong? So let's start with why Italy's rethinking this. Thanks for having me.įADEL: Thank you for being here. ![]() Giulio Pugliese is a lecturer at Oxford University and a part-time professor at the European University Institute, and he joins us from Rome. But now the country's defense minister is calling the initiative, quote, "wicked." He says the previous government's decision to join was atrocious because China delivered more exports to Italy than Italy was able to send to China. More than 150 countries have joined the initiative, and that includes Italy. Established in 2013, the Belt and Road Initiative seeks to grow Beijing's economic and political power globally. Italy appears to be rethinking its embrace of a vast Chinese infrastructure program to open global road and shipping routes.
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