Italian lawmaker Giorgia Meloni, the front-runner to become the country’s next prime minister, is expected to reverse course on Italy’s support for China’s Belt and Road Initiative and strengthen ties with Taiwan if a coalition headed by her party wins the country’s general election today.
“Without any doubt, if there is a center-right government, it is sure that Taiwan will be an essential concern for Italy,” Meloni told the Central News Agency in an interview.
Italians are to vote in a snap election triggered by the resignation of Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi following a failed attempt to get his coalition partners to support him in a confidence vote on July 20.
Photo: AP
Meloni, whose Brothers of Italy party leads the polls, would be Italy’s first far-right prime minister since World War II and first-ever female prime minister.
The Brothers of Italy traces its origins to the neofascist Italian Social Movement and retains its logo, but Meloni has tried to distance the party, which she cofounded in 2012, from its past.
She has described her party as a mainstream conservative party similar to Britain’s Conservative Party and the Republican Party in the US.
Until early this year, her party promoted closer ties with Russia, but it reversed course after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. It has over the past few years softened its skeptism of European integration and dropped its position that Italy should leave the eurozone.
In the interview, Meloni voiced support for Taiwan, and criticized China’s assertive actions across the globe and their implications for Italy and the EU.
Referring to the relationship between her party and Taiwan as a “sincere friendship,” Meloni said she has been “following closely with unease” what is happening in the Taiwan Strait as a result of the intensified Chinese threats.
“This is an unacceptable conduct by Beijing, a conduct that we strongly condemn, together with all the democracies of the free world,” Meloni said.
The EU must “deploy all the political and diplomatic weapons at its disposal” and “put pressure as hard as possible” to prevent China from causing any military conflict in the Strait, she said.
Taiwan is a strategic trade partner for Italy and Europe, Meloni said.
“Let us not forget that the EU is also a key outlet market for China, which risks being closed if they decide to attack Taiwan,” she said.
A former Italian minister of youth, Meloni has since 2020 been president of the European Conservatives and Reformists Party in the European Parliament.
In 2019, Italy became the only G7 country to sign on to China’s Belt and Road Initiative, a global infrastructure plan created by Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in 2013 to develop trade routes connecting China and the rest of the world.
Three years after joining the initiative, Italy seems ready to change tack.
Draghi vowed to reassess the country’s involvement in the scheme at a G7 summit last year, during which the group agreed to finance infrastructure projects in developing countries as a counterbalance to Beijing’s plan.
“It’s an autocracy that does not adhere to multilateral rules and does not share the same vision of the world that the democracies have,” Draghi said of China after the summit.
Asked if she would approve the renewal of a memorandum of understanding Italy signed with China on the initiative, scheduled for 2024, Meloni described Italy’s embrace of the scheme as “a big mistake.”
She cited many events since the signing of the memorandum, including China’s repeated shows of force targeting Taiwan, repression of Hong Kong democracy advocates, discrimination against Uighurs and other minorities, and ambiguous stance on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in support of her position.
“If I were to sign the renewal of that memorandum tomorrow morning, I would hardly see the political conditions,” she said.
“I hope time will serve Beijing to soften its tone and do something concrete toward respect for democracy, human rights and international legality,” she said.
If she becomes prime minister, her government would work to ensure that the EU’s Global Gateway project — aimed at pushing infrastructure development investments worldwide — helps countries that see no alternative to “Chinese penetration,” Meloni said
Countering the influence of the authoritarian leaders of Russia and China in the Western Balkans, in parts of Africa, the Indo-Pacific region and Latin America would also be a top priority of her administration, she said.
“Sovereignty is defended militarily, as well as in the area of cybersecurity and in terms of freedom of information against Russian and Chinese attempts of meddling,” she said.
Meloni also called for more support for Ukraine amid fears that the consequences of the sanctions imposed on Russia and the high price of fuel might risk undermining the West’s solidarity against Moscow.
“We need to make a political and cultural effort to explain to everyone that the aggression against Ukraine is only the beginning of an attempt to create a new world order against the West,” Meloni said. “And if Ukraine loses, the consequences will be very serious for all of us.”
On the prospective relationship between Italy and Taiwan under her watch, Meloni said Taiwan would be “an essential concern for Italy,” adding that she has also brought forward issues of concern to Taiwan for discussion in her European Parliament group.
“We like to think of a new and more intense season of cooperation: cultural exchanges, tourism, prevention and management of health crises, scientific research and projects in the key sector of microchips where Taiwan is a world leader,” she said.
ANOTHER EMERGES: The CWA yesterday said this year’s fourth storm of the typhoon season had formed in the South China Sea, but was not expected to affect Taiwan Tropical Storm Gaemi has intensified slightly as it heads toward Taiwan, where it is expected to affect the country in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 8am yesterday, the 120km-radius storm was 800km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving at 9kph northwest, the agency said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued tonight at the earliest, it said, adding that the storm is projected to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday. Gaemi’s potential effect on Taiwan remains unclear, as that would depend on its direction, radius and intensity, forecasters said. Former Weather Forecast
As COVID-19 cases in Japan have been increasing for 10 consecutive weeks, people should get vaccinated before visiting the nation, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said. The centers reported 773 hospitalizations and 124 deaths related to COVID-19 in Taiwan last week. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) on Tuesday said the number of weekly COVID-19 cases reported in Japan has been increasing since mid-May and surpassed 55,000 cases from July 8 to July 14. The average number of COVID-19 patients at Japan’s healthcare facilities that week was also 1.39 times that of the week before and KP.3 is the dominant
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) working group for Taiwan-related policies is likely to be upgraded to a committee-level body, a report commissioned by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said. As Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is increasingly likely to upgrade the CCP’s Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs, Taiwanese authorities should prepare by researching Xi and the CCP, the report said. At the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the CCP, which ended on Thursday last week, the party set a target of 2029 for the completion of some tasks, meaning that Xi is likely preparing to
US-CHINA TRADE DISPUTE: Despite Beijing’s offer of preferential treatment, the lure of China has dimmed as Taiwanese and international investors move out Japan and the US have become the favored destinations for Taiwanese graduates as China’s attraction has waned over the years, the Ministry of Labor said. According to the ministry’s latest income and employment advisory published this month, 3,215 Taiwanese university graduates from the class of 2020 went to Japan, surpassing for the first time the 2,881 graduates who went to China. A total of 2,300 graduates from the class of 2021 went to the US, compared with the 2,262 who went to China, the document showed. The trend continued for the class of 2023, of whom 1,460 went to Japan, 1,334 went to