Italy’s critics are jealous of its China deal, says Rome’s lead negotiator
- US should worry about its own debts to China rather than warn Italy about falling into a debt trap, Michele Geraci says
- Criticism made Italy ‘even more alert’ about Beijing – but he predicts more European nations will soon join it in embracing the ‘Belt and Road Initiative’
Italy has got an edge over other European nations by signing up first to China’s “Belt and Road Initiative” and it may be making some of them “jealous”, the Italian politician who pushed for his country’s involvement said on Tuesday.
Michele Geraci, undersecretary of state at the Italian Ministry of Economic Development, said at least two other European countries were expected to follow Italy, which last week became the first G7 nation to sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on the transcontinental infrastructure initiative with China.
“All the other countries will follow Italy and sign an MOU, and I can give you two names, but I won’t – they are in the pipeline,” Geraci said at the Boao Forum for Asia in China’s southern Hainan province. “In reality, all European countries want to be part of the belt and road.”
Italy agreed to join the initiative while it hosted a visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping, despite warnings by the United States and some European countries that it risked being a debt trap with questionable infrastructure project standards. Washington has branded the belt and road scheme a “vanity project”.
“When we were criticised – me personally, also – for taking care of all of this over the last few months, it’s because we … want to lead, and leading means doing things first,” Geraci said.
The MOU highlighted the signing of 29 China-Italy cooperation agreements. It came on the heels of the European Union’s unveiling of a 10-point plan aimed at rebalancing the bloc’s Beijing policy and ahead of the EU-China summit to be held in Brussels on April 9.