Italian Prime Minister Giorgiа Meloni paid a visit to China from July 27 to 31, serving as a suitable occasion to discuss both some aspects of bilateral relations between these countries and the geopolitical background against which such a remarkable event took place.
The state of bilateral relations, main events, results of the visit
The main event to take place during the visit was the meeting of G. Meloni with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. In receiving the guest, the host drew attention to the centuries-old ties between China and the Roman Empire, which were located at the two ends of the Silk Road.
Any associations of present-day Italy with the Roman Empire are obviously conditional; this historical reference probably had a certain relevance and was rather a hidden reproach for the inconsistency of the current Rome’s behaviour vis-à-vis the key political and economic project of China: the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). In early March 2019, during the Chinese leader’s visit to Italy, one of G. Meloni’s predecessors, Giuseppe Conte, signed a bilateral memorandum of understanding (MoU) for joining BRI.
Thus, Italy became the only country of the ‘Collective West’ that joined China’s most important project. Since the beginning of the sharp deterioration of the international situation at the end of 2019, China has begun to be seen (together with Russia) as the main source of challenges to Western interests. It seems that the government of G. Meloni could not withstand the reproachful glances of its allies focused and in December 2023, quietly withdrew from the BRI by non-extension of the five-year validity period of the aforementioned MoU, which ended three months later.
However, there was apparently a feeling that things somehow turned out poorly. Purely practical considerations of the extreme usefulness of maintaining relations with the second-most powerful country in the world, considering that the entire former world order and its increasingly ephemeral alliances are collapsing, remain. Now the head of the current Italian government is smiling affectionately and apologetically into the eyes of Papa Xi, who subtly scolded his interlocutor, expressing hope for the comprehensive development of bilateral relations.
This time unpleasantries were avoided and, in her response, the guest fully supported the hopes of the Chinese leader, also referring (not so distant) history, namely that this year marks the 700th anniversary of the death of Marco Polo, who left memoirs from his visits to medieval China. The situation with the BRI, was, naturally, avoided, but she recalled the 20th anniversary of the conclusion of the bilateral Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Agreement.
Also, G. Meloni touched upon the spirit of the Silk Road as a symbol of “a new chapter in partnership relations between both countries”. Her words about Italy’s “opposition to decoupling with China, supply chain restrictions and protectionism, as well as respect for the One China policy” are also noteworthy.
If only these words are not considered a rebellion on the Western ship by ‘some’. Moreover, nothing was said about the ‘excess capacity’ of the Chinese economy.
On the eve of the reception of the Chinese leader, G. Meloni, together with her Chinese counterpart Li Qiang, attended the opening ceremony of the 7th meeting of the Italian-Chinese Chamber of Commerce, established 10 years ago, which was attended by over 150 business representatives from both countries. The Chinese Foreign Ministry’s official coverage of this event is similar to that of the meeting between the guest and Xi Jinping. Also, the Chinese Prime Minister mentioned the decisions of the recently held 3rd Plenum of the 20th CPC Central Committee, at which ‘openness’ was reiterated as one of the main tools of China’s economic development strategy.
The main result of the Italian Prime Minister’s trip to China was the adoption of a bilateral document with the (long) title the Action Plan on Strengthening the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Between the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of Italy (2024-2027). In the author’s opinion, it can be considered a variation on the subject of Italy’s participation in the BRI.
Evaluations of G. Meloni’s visit to China
First of all, we note that despite the increasing importance of the factor of developing multifaceted cooperation with China, Italy (as a whole, as well as its individual territorial subjects) remains one of the leading European countries of the European continent. Total volume of trade and economic relations between Italy and China is still within 10% of the volume of its trade with the EU countries, which is approaching 700 billion dollars.
Consequently, the positioning of Rome in the international arena (in general) and towards China (in particular) cannot but reflect the behaviour of the bureaucracy in Brussels, which is very specific in terms of political and economic preferences among its most significant representatives.
In addition, Italy is included in all interstate and military-political structures of the continent, i.e. first and foremost NATO, and inevitably fluctuates synchronously along with changes in the organisation’s ‘direction’. At the NATO anniversary summit held in early July, a long-established trend was confirmed: a shift in NATO’s sphere of responsibility to the Indo-Pacific and the formation of a kind of branch there, in which Japan, along with the US, will play key leadership roles.
Meanwhile, Rome has recently been establishing increasingly close contacts with Tokyo in the defence sector. In March, 2023, Italy joined the Japanese-British project to develop a 6th generation fighter. After the Labour Party came to power in the UK, information leaks appeared, according to which a withdrawing from this project would be the new UK government’s way of trying to solve the country’s growing financial problems. However, at a meeting of defence ministers of the three countries in London at the end of July, these rumours were refuted.
As the processes of radical reformatting of the world order develop, which is accompanied by an increase in the number of uncertainty factors, Italy, like other leading European countries, is trying to expand the list of partners in the international arena in general and in IT, especially. In this context, J.’s visit should be considered. Melanie went to China, that is, to one of the leading countries in the region.
Various aspects of both this trip and the vicissitudes of Italy’s membership in the BRI, which are only partially touched upon here, are discussed in more detail in an analytical article by the Italian Institute for International Political Studies (Istituto per gli Studi di Politica Internazionale, ISPI).
Italy in the centre of Europe’s problems
In the conclusion we will once again focus on the fundamental fact that Italy is one of the key countries on the European continent, which has once again been hit by some kind of complex attack: wars, ethno-religious conflicts, strange epidemics and no less strange methods of fighting them, an unprecedented rise in the ‘human factor’ being responsible for climate change, as well as a complete overturning of the norms of social and personal life that were formed over centuries.
There is no longer a quiet giggle, rather deafening satanic laughter recently heard in Paris, i.e. in another cultural and historical centre of Europe. By the way, the first time it thundered was eight years ago and also at an opening ceremony, but of the Saint-Gotthard tunnel; there is the opinion that both represent nothing more than a fun game of the (completely uninhibited) imagination of some proponents of ‘modern art’. It is also possible that the direct organisers of both of these ‘performances’ do not really know what they are doing, being only an instrument in the hands of dark forces.
Vladimir Terekhov, expert on the issues of the Asia-Pacific region, exclusively for the online magazine “New Eastern Outlook”
