Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte and Chinese President Xi Jinping signed a memorandum of understanding between the two governments in Rome. It fixes Rome’s support for the Chinese infrastructure project “One Belt - One Way”. The document is published on the website of the Italian Council of Ministers.

The memorandum states that Italy successfully performs the role of a “terminal” of the Silk Road, a trade route that connects South-East Asia with the Middle East and Europe. Within the framework of the “One Belt - One Road” project, Conte and Xi Jinping agreed to develop equal bilateral cooperation.

In a conversation with RT, Alexey Maslov, director of the Center for Strategic Studies of China at RUDN, noted that Beijing is interested in the modernization of Italian ports - above all, Genoa and Trieste. China is ready to invest in this project in order to increase its turnover.

“The main goal of the People's Republic of China is to establish control over port facilities in Europe. Already, Beijing actually owns the Greek port of Piraeus. The success of the project “One Belt - One Way” depends on the position taken by the authorities of Italy, France, Germany and the Netherlands. In these countries, the largest ports are located, to which Chinese goods are shipped, ”explained Maslov.

  • Port of Trieste
  • AFP
  • © Alberto PIZZOLI

"A lot of fears"

As part of the “One Belt - One Road” initiative, the PRC leadership intends to combine land (rail) and sea routes for the delivery of Chinese goods to Europe into a single transport network. Italy became the first major European state to support this project.

As noted by Reuters, the signing of a memorandum of understanding between Rome and Beijing has raised concerns in several countries in Western Europe and in the United States. In particular, it is argued that Italy did not coordinate this step with its allies. At the same time, Deputy Prime Minister Luigi Di Mayo, in an interview with journalists, stressed that Rome remains committed to its international obligations.

The New York Times reports that France, Germany and the United States are alarmed by the economic and political "expansion" of the PRC. The West fears China’s increasing control over critical transportation infrastructure, primarily ports, and technology leaks. In addition, as the newspaper notes, Beijing is actively playing on the contradictions between Western states.

Time magazine writes that an infrastructure deal between Italy and China could split Europe "from the periphery to its very center, both literally and figuratively." According to the publication, the consent of Rome to support “One Belt - One Way” is evidence of the collapsing geopolitical order that developed after the Second World War.

Maslov believes that the EU countries express "a lot of fears" about Chinese investment.

“Europe, no doubt, needs large foreign investments, but at the same time it is afraid of losing control over strategic sectors of the economy, including the transport infrastructure. It is widely believed that the EU risks losing its economic independence, ”the expert said.

European authorities have repeatedly expressed concern about the "expansion" of China. For example, since last year, discussions in Europe have not ceased whether, following the example of the United States, Australia and New Zealand, it is worthwhile not to use the telecommunications products of the Chinese company Huawei, which allegedly works in the interests of the PRC intelligence services.

The corporation itself rejects all accusations. Beijing associates claims against Huawei with “deliberate political pressure.” Some experts see in the scandal around the company the desire of the United States and other countries to press China in the global telecommunications market.

In March, Brussels studied the risks of providing Huawei with access to the European market for fifth-generation mobile communication systems (5G). The European Commissioner for the unified digital market, Andrus Ansip, prepared a report for the European Commission. The official called on European governments to strengthen cooperation in the field of cybersecurity, but did not begin to demand the refusal of cooperation with Huawei.

  • German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron
  • Reuters
  • © Yves Herman

"Finding a compromise"

One of the opponents of closer cooperation between the EU and China is French President Emmanuel Macron. On March 22, during a speech at the summit in Brussels, he called on European countries to rally to oppose Beijing. The French leader complained that some EU member states "are very dependent on foreign investment, in particular, Chinese."

“We discussed infrastructure investments, important issues on 5G, and I must clearly state: the time of European naivety has expired ... For many years we have taken a multidirectional approach, and China, I must say, took advantage of our disunity,” said Macron.

The President of France, in a veiled form, criticized Italy for supporting the project “One Belt - One Way”. In particular, Macron stressed that the EU countries should not negotiate with China on infrastructure and investment projects on a bilateral basis. The French leader called on his European colleagues to develop a unified approach to cooperation with the PRC.

As Tatyana Romanova, an associate professor at the Department of European Studies at St. Petersburg State University, said in an interview with China, China is used to interacting with countries on a bilateral basis, regarding this format as the most efficient.

To date, China has achieved certain results in the diplomatic field, the expert believes. Beijing has achieved the greatest success in negotiations with Eastern European countries, but so far it has not been possible to reach an agreement with France and Germany.

“In the EU camp there are serious disagreements on how to proceed further: either to reduce economic contacts, or, conversely, to deepen them. Skeptics attribute risks to the fact that Beijing can use investment as a political tool of pressure, ”Romanova said.

Maslov, for his part, believes that the position of Europe is further aggravated by the trade and economic policies pursued by Washington. In 2018, by order of Donald Trump, additional tariffs for steel and aluminum from the EU were introduced, and duties on dozens of product groups from China were increased.

  • US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jianping
  • Reuters
  • © Carlos Barria

In November 2018, the European Parliament published a report in which it was noted that the behavior of Washington could lead to unpredictable consequences and provoke a global trade war. The EU fears that the next step Trump will be the introduction of duties on cars and auto parts manufactured in Europe.

According to Maslov, the views of Brussels and Beijing on US policy as a whole are the same - they want to reduce economic dependence on Washington.

“For example, Europe seeks to establish a trade regime that would allow it to compete with the United States. In turn, Beijing takes into account the factor of complicating military-political relations with the United States and its dependence on the American market, ”explained the expert.

Romanova, in turn, notes that the rapprochement between China and Europe will undermine the position of the United States as an economic hegemon. For this reason, Washington will benefit from the continuing split in the European Union between the Western and Eastern member countries regarding further interaction with the PRC.

“The search for a compromise between Europe and China will be quite a long process. At the moment, I see no real threats to the EU. Unpredictable and abrupt behavior of the United States acts as a catalyst for the rapprochement between Europe and China. In any case, Washington is not interested in finding contact points between Brussels and Beijing. The United States understands the inevitability of the loss of the former economic and political influence in the world, ”Romanova concluded.