Italy moves to weaken China ties without upsetting Beijing

ROME: When Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani travels to China this weekend, he'll be balancing two competing interests: laying the ground for Italy’s exit from a controversial investment pact with Beijing while also trying to avoid a rupture with the world's second-largest economy.

During a three-day trip starting on Saturday, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s deputy will meet with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and other officials to discuss the possibility of leaving the Belt and Road Initiative, an investment pact designed to deepen economic ties with allies. Just before boarding a plane to China, Tajani said that the 2019 agreement had fallen short of expectations.

“Belt and Road was a decision made in the past,” Tajani told Francine Lacqua in a Bloomberg Television interview on Saturday at the Ambrosetti Forum in Cernobbio, Italy. Regardless of what Italy decides regarding the pact, “it will not be a message against China,” he said. Bloomberg reported earlier that Italy was signaling to allies that it intended to pull out of the BRI. But delivering on such a scenario will require a significant diplomatic effort. Meloni has said she will visit China in the coming months as part of the outreach started by Tajani.