According to a disclosure made by the country’s defense minister, Guido Crosetto, the Italian government is attempting to renege on a deal it struck with China. Italy and China signed the Belts and Roads Initiative (BRI) pact four years ago.
According to a Reuters article, Minister Crosetto said that Italy made a “improvised and atrocious” choice in signing the BRI pact, making it the only significant Western nation to have done so.
According to a Reuters story that included an interview, Italy signed the BRI pact with China to increase exports. According to Reuters, Crosetto is a member of a government contemplating how to end the deal.
With significant infrastructure investment, the BRI plan seeks to reconstruct the ancient Silk Road that connected China to Asia, Europe, and beyond. Critics claim that China is using it as a vehicle to expand its geopolitical and economic power.
According to Crosetto, who was reported by Reuters as saying to the Corriere della Sera daily, “the decision to join the (new) Silk Road was an improvised and atrocious act” that increased Chinese exports to Italy but not Italian exports to China.
The question at hand is how to withdraw from the BRI without jeopardizing ties with Beijing. In spite of the fact that China is a rival, it is also a partner, the defense minister said.
After meeting with US President Joe Biden on Thursday, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said that her country was still debating the BRI and that she would soon be traveling to Beijing.