Italy is preparing to exit the Silk Road. A counterpart for Xi?
Either way, it will be a failure. Remain in the Belt and Road Initiative by giving a signal of non-alignment to the United States precisely in view of the next G7 presidency for 2024? Or exit from the agreement signed in 2019 by the yellow-green government and be exposed to possible retaliation by China? The Meloni government now seems to have chosen the first option, as widely announced by the premier herself during her electoral campaign in view of last September’s elections.
This is normal, for a centre-right government that bases its foreign policy on a strong Atlanticism. And given the past excesses of two of the three members of the coalition, Lega and Forza Italia, on Russia it is clear that the executive wants to show compactness on the Chinese front, that is, the one considered truly a priority by Washington in the context of its all-out dispute with Beijing.
Still, Meloni does not want to come to a break with China. The bilateral meeting with Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G20 Bali summit last November went better than expected. From then on, but in reality even earlier, the rhetoric of the prime minister and the government on the People’s Republic and on its most delicate dossiers have considerably attenuated. As well as the direct connections, on which Meloni had been particularly generous when she was still in opposition, between the war in Ukraine and military scenarios on Taiwan.
The same Antonio Tajani continues to repeat that China’s role in putting an end to the conflict can be fundamental and decisive, line reaffirmed several times after the meeting a few months ago with Wang Yi, the head of diplomacy of the Chinese Communist Party.
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