Italy joined the BRI under a previous administration, becoming the first major Western country to do so. Guido Crosetto is a member of an administration that is studying how to exit the pact.
When Italy joined China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) four years ago, it made a “improved and atrocious” decision because it achieved little to enhance exports, according to Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto in an interview published on Sunday.
Italy joined the BRI under a previous administration, becoming the first major Western country to do so. Guido Crosetto is a member of an administration that is studying how to exit the pact.
With huge infrastructure investments, the BRI programme envisage reconstructing the historic Silk Road to connect China with Asia, Europe, and beyond. Critics view it as a vehicle for China to expand its geopolitical and economic might.
“The decision to join the (new) Silk Road was an improvised and atrocious act” that increased China’s exports to Italy but had no effect on Italian exports to China, according to Guido Crosetto of the Corriere della Sera daily.
“The issue today is: how to walk back (from the BRI) without damaging relations (with Beijing). Because it is true that China is a competitor, but it is also a partner,” the defence minister added.
Following a meeting with US President Joe Biden at the White House on Thursday, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni stated that her government has until December to decide on the BRI, and she also stated that she will shortly fly to Beijing.
Meloni stated in an interview with the Italian news channel TG5 on Saturday that while Italy is a member of the BRI, it is not the G7 country with the strongest trade relations with China.
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