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  • Italy just snubbed its European allies

  • by signing a Belt and Road deal with China.

  • Italy hopes it's a win-win-win.

  • But history suggests China might get most of the wins.

  • Welcome back to China Uncensored.

  • I'm Chris Chappell.

  • Italy.

  • It might look like a worn-out old boot

  • but it's brought the world historic masterpieces

  • like the Sistine Chapel

  • the Mona Lisa

  • and of course the most magnificent of allpizza.

  • Now that is a work of art.

  • This past weekend,

  • Italy again made history

  • by ignoring the advice of its allies,

  • and becoming the only G7 country to sign up

  • for China's global infrastructure project,

  • the Belt and Road Initiative.

  • Or, as it was initially known,

  • One Belt, One Really Bad Idea

  • for Every Country Except China.

  • Italy rolled out the metaphorical red carpet

  • when Chinese leader Xi Jinping

  • and first lady Peng Liyuan

  • arrived in Rome last Thursday.

  • The next day,

  • Xi Jinping met with Italy's president,

  • Sergio Mattarella.

  • And like those corporate emails that everyone hates,

  • Xi Jinping was all about thesynergy and cooperation”!

  • "We want to strengthen the synergies

  • between our respective development strategies

  • to enhance cooperation in the infrastructure,

  • port, logistics and maritime transport sectors.”

  • But President Mattarella was all like

  • win-win must NOT mean China wins twice.”

  • "The ancient Silk Road was an instrument of knowledge

  • among peoples and a tool to share reciprocal discoveries.

  • Even the new Silk Road must be a two-way street.”

  • Kudos there to the very professional translation

  • done by Mario.

  • Anyway, you can't blame President Mattarella

  • for emphasizing the two-way street part.

  • Although you can maybe blame him

  • for signing the deal in the first place.

  • Because the Chinese regime has a shady history

  • of lending money to countries for its own gain.

  • Like when debt-ridden Sri Lanka

  • couldn't pay back a big Chinese loan,

  • and had to sign away its seaport.

  • Or when cash-strapped Greece absorbed

  • a ton of Chinese capital and sold the port of Piraeus

  • to a Chinese state-owned company.

  • Of course, Greece was grateful for the money.

  • So grateful, that they even helped block EU criticism

  • of China's terrible human rights record.

  • And now comes Italy,

  • with its crushing public debt.

  • But instead of austerity,

  • Italy's populist government has promised

  • to use even more state spending

  • to climb out of the recession.

  • Plus Italy has some crumbling infrastructure

  • that desperately needs fixing.

  • They can't depend on tourists to hold it up forever.

  • But I was more thinking about the modern infrastructure.

  • Like the Genoa Bridge that collapsed last year.

  • I can't say it was unexpected.

  • Four other Italian bridges have collapsed since 2013.

  • And that's partly because a lot of Italy's construction

  • was allegedly built by mafia firms

  • that scammed money

  • by using weakened cement.

  • But don't worry,

  • because now that Italy is working with China,

  • everything's going to be top quality.

  • That's why, this past Saturday,

  • Italy penned a deal with China

  • to join the Belt and Road Initiative.

  • Actually, the signing included 29 separate deals,

  • worth a total of 2.8 billion dollars.

  • For example,

  • a deal to work together on technology for gas turbines.

  • Which Chinese companies will definitely not steal.

  • Pinky swear.

  • And Italy's CDP Bank signed

  • an agreement with the Bank of China

  • to createpanda bonds”.

  • These panda bonds will let mainland Chinese

  • invest in Italian debt.

  • To me, the red flag here is that

  • they're named after the one animal which

  • no matter where it's born in the world

  • ultimately belongs to China.

  • Nothing involving pandas is ever a smart choice, people!

  • You think these fangs are really for eating bamboo?!

  • Anyway, Italy's Deputy Prime Minister Luigi Di Mario

  • What's that, Shelley?

  • It's Luigi Di Maio?

  • I knew it was too good to be true.

  • Anyway, he called the whole thing

  • not just a win-win,

  • but a win-win-win.

  • "Today is the day when the 'Made in Italy' wins,

  • Italy wins,

  • Italian companies win.

  • But there's at least one Italian official

  • who's not convinced it's a win-win-win for Italy.

  • Italy's other Deputy Prime Minister

  • wait, why does Italy have two Deputy Prime Ministers?

  • Is that normal?

  • What's that Shelley?

  • Wow.

  • That's... really complicated.

  • Anyway, Italy's other Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini

  • made headlines by boycotting the signing ceremony.

  • Instead, he attended an event in northern Italy

  • where he told reporters that doing deals

  • with the Chinese Communist Party

  • is risky business.

  • Salvini saidDon't tell me that China

  • is a country where the free market prevails,

  • where the state doesn't interfere in the economy,

  • in the legal system,

  • in information.”

  • Yeah, I'm going to have to agree with

  • Italy's Deputy Prime Minister on this one.

  • The second Deputy Prime Minister, I mean.

  • The European Union is also not thrilled with Italy

  • jumping aboard the Belt and Road train.

  • The EU's budget commissioner said that

  • The expansion of transport links

  • between Europe and Asia

  • is in itself a good thing,

  • *as long as* the autonomy and sovereignty of Europe

  • is not endangered.”

  • But that's the problem.

  • Because he then expressedconcern that in Italy

  • and other European countries,

  • infrastructure of strategic importance

  • like power networks,

  • rapid rail lines or harbors are no longer in European

  • but in Chinese hands.”

  • The EU is very connected.

  • Unified currency,

  • free trade,

  • basically no borders.

  • So what happens in Italy,

  • doesn't stay in Italy.

  • It affects all of Europe.

  • Of course, that's exactly what

  • the Chinese Communist Party is hoping for.

  • Italy is a great way for them

  • to get another foot in Europe's door.

  • Like through investing in the Italian port of Trieste.

  • And guess who else is yelling across the water at Italy?

  • America!

  • The National Security Council said in a tweet that

  • Italy is a major global economy

  • and a great investment destination.

  • Endorsing BRI lends legitimacy

  • to China's predatory approach to investment

  • and will bring no benefits to the Italian people.”

  • The US government's main concern

  • is that Italy's Belt and Road deal

  • could be a ploy to strengthen China's military influence

  • and could be used to spread technologies

  • used for espionage.

  • And spread them not just in Italy,

  • but potentially throughout Europe.

  • Back in February,

  • Secretary of State Mike Pompeo

  • warned that the US wouldn't partner with countries

  • that use Huawei technology

  • because of security concerns.

  • Some Italian politicians have pushed for a Huawei 5G ban

  • after Pompeo's warning.

  • But Deputy Prime Minister LuigiWin-win-winDi Maio

  • doesn't seem the slightest bit concerned.

  • He told CNBC that the deals he signed contain

  • nothing for them to worry about,

  • nothing relating to 5G or any agreement

  • on strategic telecommunications.”

  • And then, he says,

  • there's alwaysgolden power.”

  • Golden power is special legislation

  • that gives the Italian government greater control

  • over strategic assets.

  • But now that China's got its first G7 country

  • hitched up to the Belt and Road train,

  • time will tell what win-win-win really looks like.

  • So what do you think about Italy

  • signing onto the Belt and Road?

  • Leave your comments below.

  • And now it's time for me to answer

  • a question from one of you

  • fans who support China Uncensored

  • through the crowdfunding website Patreon.

  • The Maddest Hatter asks:

  • Do you think the Belt and Road Initiative

  • is inherently bad?

  • Or do you think it could benefit everyone

  • if the CCP stopped using debt traps

  • and turned it into a more cooperative venture?

  • Good question.

  • Investment is not inherently bad.

  • But with the Belt and Road Initiative,

  • you have to consider the Chinese Communist Party's

  • strategic purpose behind the investment

  • and you can tell by what they're investing in.

  • China is investing in technology partnerships

  • and raw materials.

  • Chinese companies then take this know-how

  • and materials back to China,

  • whether they make, well,

  • they make everything in China.

  • China also invests in building shipping ports,

  • airports, and rail lines.

  • This is largely so they can sell those

  • made-in-China goods to all the same countries

  • they took the technology and raw materials from.

  • If some of this strategy sounds familiar,

  • it is.

  • It's like what European colonizers did

  • back in the day.

  • Take other countries' raw materials,

  • manufacture everything in Europe,

  • and then sell them finished goods

  • but don't encourage those countries

  • to do their own manufacturing.

  • And who got rich in that scheme?

  • The colonizers.

  • So the Belt and Road strategy

  • is inherently designed to exploit other countries.

  • Not to mention building military bases,

  • like the one in Djibouti.

  • In that sense, the Belt and Road Initiative

  • is fundamentally problematic.

  • I don't think it could ever be turned into

  • a truly cooperative venture,

  • because that's just not what it's designed to do.

  • Thanks for your question, Maddest Hatter.

  • And thank you for watching China Uncensored.

  • Support our show through the crowdfunding website Patreon...

  • ...with a dollar or more per episode.

  • Once again, I'm Chris Chappell.

  • See you next time.

Italy just snubbed its European allies

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    zijun su 發佈於 2021 年 06 月 01 日
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