2023-07-30 21:35:35
“The decision to join the Silk Road was an improvised and devastating initiative by Giuseppe Conte’s government. Today is about backtracking without damaging relationships. Because China is a competitor, but it’s also a partner,” Crosetto said.
Before her election victory in September, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni had declared that she would not pursue the initiative any further. As early as May, Italian media reported that the government was planning to exit. During her visit to US President Joe Bilden a few days ago, there was speculation that the exit could be announced on this occasion.
Archyde.com/Jonathan Ernst Meloni at Biden
US request
Rising tensions between Beijing and Washington, both over China’s proximity to Russia and China’s Taiwan policy, would make it too risky to ally itself economically with the Asian power, Rome said.
According to media reports, the United States had expressly asked Rome to comment on the investment pact concluded in 2019 by the previous government led by Prime Minister Conte. In any case, the withdrawal is tricky for Italy. Even if specific projects have so far been scarce, economic retaliatory measures from Beijing are feared.
Railway lines, roads and sea connections
With the “Silk Road” project announced in 2013, China is continuing the historic trade route from antiquity and the early Middle Ages. The People’s Republic is planning the construction of railway lines, roads and sea connections, which the Beijing leadership wants to boost trade within Asia as well as with Europe and Africa. Critics from the West fear that China is only trying to increase its influence on the global economy.
picturedesk.com/Wang Fei Xinhua Train in Korgas, a logistics and trade hub of the “Silk Road”
Partner countries in the debt spiral
However, the project is not necessarily going according to plan for China either: A study published in March showed that more and more emerging and developing countries that have taken out loans from the People’s Republic for the construction of infrastructure can no longer service them as planned.
According to the study by the Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW) in Germany with AidData, the Harvard Kennedy School and the World Bank, as of the end of 2022, 60 percent of all Chinese foreign loans are at risk of default.
According to the study, China is granting emergency loans on a large scale to prevent defaults. By the end of 2021, the authors counted 128 rescue loans to 22 debtor countries with a total value of 240 billion US dollars (218 billion euros). According to the information, these are mostly refinancing loans – i.e. the extension of terms or payment terms – as well as the granting of new loans to finance due debts.
1690761217
#Exit #official #Italy #leaves #Chinas #Silk #Road