Giorgia Meloni - Xi Jinping
Mahoney on Hong Kong radio program "Back Chat" this morning to discuss Italian PM Meloni's recent meeting with President Xi.
This year Meloni shines, in electoral successes outpacing her peers in #france and #germany, and with #italy holding the #g7 presidency she carries a double ambition: to continue burnishing her international profile, especially in #europe, where she's trying to position herself politically between the Western and Eastern divides, a type of pragmatic rightist internationalism; but her primary objective is to serve domestic constituents. They want a reassertion of Italian national strength and more autonomy within the EU and vis-à-vis the Us and NATO, while still remaining committed to those relationships and, to a large extent, dependent on them. Also, like others, she's hedging given a possible Trump return and what that could mean for Europe, NATO, and the global economy, with worst case scenarios making positive relations with China even more “difficult and dear".
https://www.rthk.hk/radio/radio3/programme/backchat?lang=en
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She spoke of resetting Sino-Italian relations after putting them in arrears by exiting #BRI, and she sought the optics of going toe-to-toe with Xi to address trade imbalances. She supports EU plans to impose tariffs on Chinese EVs, but unlike the US, she wants to induce Chinese investment and manufacturing, including partnering with Italian firms
#Meloni understands China has neither caused nor exploited the conflict in #ukraine but paid dearly for it, with the US driving wedges between Europe and China while trying to expand NATO's remit to confront #china. This also threatens EU and ltalian autonomy. With Beijing pursuing a global peace agenda, she noted China is a crucial player for managing global tensions. This follows several Chinese diplomatic wins, including hosting Ukrainian FM Kuleba. She knows the US might soon abandon Ukraine, and China might play the role of peacemaker and re-builder. Europe will have to adjust at speed, and she's setting the table accordingly.
The Chinese readout noted this is the 700th anniversary of the death of Marco Polo, that China and Italy are linked historically end-to-end by the Silk Road. This is also the 20th anniversary of the establishment of a comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries. The main pay-off: The two sides inked three-year action plan for strengthening that partnership. Also noted:
"Italy adheres to the one-China policy and hopes to strengthen dialogue and cooperation with China, tap more into the potential, deepen bilateral cooperation in such fields as economy, trade, investment, electric vehicles and artificial intelligence, strengthen people-to-people and cultural exchanges, and encourage more Italian products to enter the Chinese market. Italy opposes decoupling and severing industrial and supply chains, rejects protectionist ready to play a positive role in further deepening and consolidating EU-China relations.”
RTHK
香港電台