Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni delivered a Christmas present earlier this month to a free and prosperous Europe when she dumped Italy’s deal with China on its Belt and Road Initiative.
Despite assurances from the center-left Democratic Party that initially orchestrated the deal, Italy, like most of the 17 other countries in the European Union that signed agreements, never saw many tangible benefits from its relationship with China. Instead, Beijing used the agreements to bolster its global power and flex its influence.
More specifically, China has used its Belt and Road Initiative to divide and marginalize Europe, buying ports and other critical infrastructure, cornering the market on telecommunications and other important business sectors, and pushing European nations to compete for attention and deals with Beijing rather than work together in their…
