Italy and China want to revive the spirit of the ancient Silk Road by
deepening their trade and investment ties, Chinese President Xi Jinping said
on Friday during a trip to Rome that has raised eyebrows in Washington.
Mr. Xi is set to sign a deal on Saturday that will see Italy become the first
member of the Group of Seven (G7) major industrialised nations to join
China’s “Belt and Road” infrastructure project (BRI), which is inspired by
historic, centuries-old trade routes.
“We want to revitalise the ancient Silk Road in order to better share the fruits
of humanity’s progress,” Mr. Xi said following talks with Italian President
Sergio Mattarella. Speaking through a translator, Mr. Xi said the two
countries should enhance cooperation in infrastructure, ports, logistics and
maritime transport.
Besides the BRI accord, various deals worth up to €7 billion ($7.9 billion) are
expected to be agreed, including agreements opening up the northern ports
of Trieste and Genoa to Chinese containers.
Italy''s decision to get closer to Beijing has caused concern amongst its
Western allies -- notably in Washington, where the White House National Security Council urged Rome not to give ”legitimacy to China''s infrastructure
vanity project”. Critics of the BRI say it is designed to bolster China''s political and military
influence, bringing little reward to other nations, and warn that it could be
used to spread technologies capable of spying on Western interests.
Human Rights
In an effort to allay such fears, Rome moved hastily this week to protect its
telecoms sector from foreign predators, and the Italian president stressed on
Friday that any deals had to be to advantageous to both countries.
“The Silk Road must be a two-way street and not only trade must travel along
it, but also talent, ideas and knowledge,” Mattarella said, with Xi standing
alongside him.
The two men promised to bolster cultural connections, saying they would
twin Italian and Chinese UNESCO heritage sites.
Mattarella also stressed the importance of safeguarding human rights but
did not go into specific details. The U.S. State Department earlier this month
slammed rights violations in China, saying the sort of abuses it had inflicted
on its Muslim minorities had not been seen “since the 1930s.”
China denied the accusation as groundless and prejudiced.
Italy''s rapprochement with Beijing has come as U.S. President Donald
Trump wages a trade war with China, accusing the world''s second-largest
economy of unfair trade practices.
Trump''s former chief strategist Steve Bannon is in Rome and called on the
Italian government to rethink its position.
“I beseech the people of Italy to look at China''s predatory economic model
before signing any deals,” he told reporters. ”The Chinese have a rapacious
appetite for global domination.”
After leaving Italy on Sunday, Xi will travel to Monte Carlo and then on to
Paris, where he will hold talks with French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and European Union Commission
President Jean-Claude Juncker.
Source: The Hindu, India Monday, 25 March 2019