Italy has officially told China it is leaving the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Two government sources gave this information to Reuters on Wednesday, ending months of suspense over Rome’s future in the ambitious project.
In 2019, Italy became the only major Western country to join China’s BRI program, alarming Western countries, including the United States. The biggest concern was that this project was giving China direct entry into Western countries and enabling China to gain control over Europe’s sensitive technology and critical infrastructure.
Why Did Italy Withdraw From BRI?
However, when Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni took office last year, she indicated she wanted to withdraw from the deal based on the old Silk Road, which links China with the West. Meloni had said that Italy did not get any significant benefit from this.
The 2019 agreement expires in March 2024 and will automatically renew unless Rome gives at least three months’ written warning that it is pulling out. A government source said a letter had been delivered to Beijing “in recent days”, informing the Chinese government that Italy would not renew the agreement.
A second government source said, “We intend to maintain excellent relations with China, even though we are no longer part of the Belt and Road Initiative.” “Other G7 countries have closer relations with China than we do, even though they were never in the (BRI),” he said.
Let us tell you that Italy will assume the presidency of G7 in 2024.
Modi’s Friend Melonie Gave A Shock To China
With the BRI, China has become a significant lender for development projects on par with the World Bank. Xi Jinping’s initiative has built power plants, roads, railways and ports worldwide and deepened China’s ties with Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East. However, the massive loans supporting the projects have placed heavy debt burdens on poor countries, leading in some cases to China taking control of those countries’ assets.
The Chinese government says the initiative has launched over 3,000 projects and invested nearly $1 trillion.
This project has also been strongly criticized by America, India and many other countries because, through this project, China creates a debt trap in which small countries get badly trapped. The terms and conditions of the loan remain unknown and are frequently changed by China. At the same time, China promotes corruption in small countries for this project. In many countries, China has made deals with the leaders of the ruling party and the opposition leaders.
Additionally, Sri Lanka’s Hambantota port was taken over by China after trapping it in the same project for 99 years, which it used against India to gain a strategic advantage.
