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Joining China's Belt and Road was an 'atrocious' decision, Italian minister says (www.reuters.com)
submitted 1 year 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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[-] CosmoNova@feddit.de 1 points 1 year ago

I stand by my obversavtion that China never meant to help anyone but themselves and it was always designed as a scam. It's never really been about admiration as they never actually tried to gain it. It's just mountains of empty promises from the start. They do care a lot about 'saving face' but that has a different meaning than true admiration. Many economic experts have warned about the BRI early on. Even those who had otherwise good things to say about China. That project stood out as being primed for a scam from the very beginning.

[-] Anekdoteles@feddit.de 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

A scam may constitute of a contract based on asymmetric information or on the willfull misleading by one-party about their desire to fulfill. You can call it many things, and judge it however you like, but it does not qualify as a scam by any definition that I could think of. Surely: the benefits may be heavily skewed to the Chinese side. However, they made an offer that was easy to reject.

this post was submitted on 30 Jul 2023
176 points (86.1% liked)

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