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Italy minister's 'wicked' decision remark on China's BRI: ‘Most ridiculous…'
The BRI project, which Italy signed up for under its former government, has not done anything to boost the nation's exports, Italy defence minister said.
Italy's defence minister Guido Crosetto said that his country's choice to join Chinese infrastructure project Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) was "wicked." The present Italian Government is considering whether to keep participating in the scheme, he said in an interview with Corriere della Sera newspaper. The BRI project, which Italy signed up for under its former government, has not done anything to boost the nation's exports, he added.
Beijing's international infrastructure investment programme- BRI- was established by the country's president Xi Jinping in 2013 with the aim to rebuild China's Silk Road that linked Asia with Africa and Europe. The project has seen billions of dollars invested into infrastructure projects, including the construction of ports from Sri Lanka to West Africa, motorways from Papua New Guinea to Kenya and power and telecoms infrastructure in Latin America and Southeast Asia.
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In 2019, Italy became the only major Western country and the only country from G7 to join the BRI. The BRI membership of Italy will end in 2024.
What Italy's defence minister said on BRI?
Guido Crosetto told the Corriere della Sera that "the choice to join the Silk Road was an improvised and wicked act, made by the government of Giuseppe Conte, which led to a double negative result.”
“We have exported a load of oranges to China, they have tripled their exports to Italy in three years. The most ridiculous thing then was that Paris, without signing any treaties, in those days sold planes to Beijing for tens of billions,” he said.
The question now is how Italy can withdraw from the BRI without damaging relations with Beijing, he said terming China as “a competitor, but also a partner.”
Earlier, Italy's prime minister Giorgia Meloni asserted that the country's "good relations" with China could exist without the scheme.
