Rome must withdraw from Belt and Road pact with China, Italy’s defense chief says

The government of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni sent a strong signal to China that it plans to walk away from an infrastructure investment plan after her defense chief called the Belt and Road Initiative a “wicked act” signed by a previous administration.

In an interview Sunday with the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sella, Defense Minister Guido Crosetto said the deal is one-sided and has brought no real economic benefit to his country.

Italy signed up for the Belt and Road Initiative in 2019 during the administration of China-friendly Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte. It was the only member of the Group of Seven nations to join the pact. The agreement will renew automatically at the end of the year unless Italy formally abandons it.

Ms. Meloni has called the former administration’s decision to join Belt and Road a “grave mistake” for Italy.

Mr. Crosetto said Italy will have to extricate itself from the agreement without needlessly antagonizing China, which he called “a competitor, but it is also a partner.”

He said Beijing has ambitions to supplant the U.S. as the largest economy in the world and wield the most powerful military.

“They don’t hide their goals. They make them explicit,” Mr. Crosetto said. “So we’ll have to get out of [Belt and Road] without producing disasters.”