WASHINGTON, March 28, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo
voiced disappointment Wednesday after Italy joined China’s “Silk Road”
network of transport and trade links, saying it was not in the ally’s long-
term interest.
Rome’s populist government signed a “non-binding” protocol with visiting
President Xi Jinping on Saturday that made Italy the first nation in the
Group of Seven major economies to become part of the signature Chinese
project.
“It’s disappointing anytime any country begins to engage in behavior and
commercial interactions with China that aren’t straight up,” Pompeo told the
House Foreign Affairs Committee in response after a lawmaker asked about the
Italian decision.
“We’re saddened because we think the people of those countries ultimately
lose,” Pompeo said.
Under the Silk Road initiative, named for the ancient trading route across
Eurasia, China is funding major rail, road and sea infrastructure as it seeks
a big boost in international trade.
Pompeo, however, said that China practiced “debt-trap diplomacy” with its
state-owned or state-controlled enterprises looking after only their own
interests.
“It may feel good in the moment — you think you got a cheap product or a
low-cost bridge or road built. And in the end there will be a political cost
attached to that which will greatly exceed the economic value of what you
were provided,” he said.
The United States has stepped up its warnings around the world about
China’s growing economic clout.
It has notably urged nations not to choose Chinese telecom giant Huawei to
upgrade to fifth-generation communications, voicing privacy and security
fears.
Critics say that the United States is mostly trying to shore up its own
businesses which are facing tough competition, with Huawei selling phones
that are substantially cheaper than Apple’s.