this post was submitted on 30 Jul 2023
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Joining China's Belt and Road was an 'atrocious' decision, Italian minister says (www.reuters.com)
submitted 2 years ago by 0x815@feddit.de to c/europe@feddit.de
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The decision to join the Silk Road multiplied China's exports to Italy but did not have the same effect on Italian exports to China, Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said. "The issue today is: how to walk back [from the BRI] without damaging relations [with Beijing], because it is true that China is a competitor, but it is also a partner," Crosetto added. Italy signed up to the BRI under a previous government, becoming the only major Western country to have taken such a step.

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[โ€“] chaogomu@kbin.social 16 points 2 years ago (1 children)

https://www.csis.org/analysis/its-debt-trap-managing-china-imf-cooperation-across-belt-and-road

And

https://intpolicydigest.org/the-economic-impact-of-china-s-belt-and-road-initiative/

Basically, China is using the BRI as a sort of neo-colonialism debt trap.

[โ€“] interolivary@beehaw.org 5 points 2 years ago (1 children)

What an odd initiative if it's all based on loans. What's the incentive to take part in it, especially for poor countries like Laos for whom the debt might be a sizeable percentage of their GDP? I fail to see the "carrot" of foreign-built infrastructure if it comes with potentially completely unsustainable debt

[โ€“] sadreality@kbin.social 9 points 2 years ago (1 children)

You are assuming people signing countries for these deals are good faith actors... They have been compromised aka paid off to take less than fair dea and tax layers/consumers end up paying the bill anywya.

[โ€“] interolivary@beehaw.org 4 points 2 years ago (1 children)

And you're assuming they're all bad faith actors. While some will most certainly have been, I doubt every single instance of countries signing on to the BRI was done in bad faith.

[โ€“] sadreality@kbin.social 4 points 2 years ago

Not every BRI deal is a bad deal tho either.

China will screw you over but if a country is able to they can get a mutually beneficial deal. Italy should be one of such countries.