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.
It’s crazy to me for how slowly people are getting the wake up call on what was obviously a debt trap from the start. Corrupt politicians have sold their people out for a briefcase full of money and some folks are still defending it because they simply refuse to face the truth. I know it’s hard to admit you got scammed but damn.
Which is exactly what Beijing bet on from the beginning. You see the way Beijing handles these things is by getting a harbor or two and maybe a military base in your country.
You underestimate the Chinese craving for admiration. The belt and road initiative was mainly that: A signal to the people in China that said “We are back on the world stage and now we are the guys that help others to develop”. Sure, it may also have been debt trap, but other than populist voices like to portray it, that was not the actual goal.