by signing a Belt and Road deal with China.

Italy hopes it's a win-win-win.

But history suggests China might get most of the wins.

Welcome back to China Uncensored.

I'm Chris Chappell.

Italy.

It might look like a worn-out old boot

but it's brought the world historic masterpieces

like the Sistine Chapel

the Mona Lisa

and of course the most magnificent of all—pizza.

Now that is a work of art.

This past weekend,

Italy again made history

by ignoring the advice of its allies,

and becoming the only G7 country to sign up

for China's global infrastructure project,

the Belt and Road Initiative.

Or, as it was initially known,

One Belt, One Really Bad Idea

for Every Country Except China.

Italy rolled out the metaphorical red carpet

when Chinese leader Xi Jinping

and first lady Peng Liyuan

arrived in Rome last Thursday.

The next day,

Xi Jinping met with Italy's president,

Sergio Mattarella.

And like those corporate emails that everyone hates,

Xi Jinping was all about the “synergy and cooperation”!

"We want to strengthen the synergies

between our respective development strategies

to enhance cooperation in the infrastructure,

port, logistics and maritime transport sectors.”

But President Mattarella was all like

“win-win must NOT mean China wins twice.”

"The ancient Silk Road was an instrument of knowledge

among peoples and a tool to share reciprocal discoveries.

Even the new Silk Road must be a two-way street.”

Kudos there to the very professional translation

done by Mario.

Anyway, you can't blame President Mattarella

for emphasizing the two-way street part.

Although you can maybe blame him

for signing the deal in the first place.

Because the Chinese regime has a shady history

of lending money to countries for its own gain.

Like when debt-ridden Sri Lanka

couldn't pay back a big Chinese loan,

and had to sign away its seaport.

Or when cash-strapped Greece absorbed

a ton of Chinese capital and sold the port of Piraeus

to a Chinese state-owned company.

Of course, Greece was grateful for the money.

So grateful, that they even helped block EU criticism

of China's terrible human rights record.

And now comes Italy,

with its crushing public debt.

But instead of austerity,

Italy's populist government has promised

to use even more state spending

to climb out of the recession.

Plus Italy has some crumbling infrastructure

that desperately needs fixing.

They can't depend on tourists to hold it up forever.

But I was more thinking about the modern infrastructure.

Like the Genoa Bridge that collapsed last year.

I can't say it was unexpected.

Four other Italian bridges have collapsed since 2013.

And that's partly because a lot of Italy's construction

was allegedly built by mafia firms

that scammed money

by using weakened cement.

But don't worry,

because now that Italy is working with China,

everything's going to be top quality.

That's why, this past Saturday,

Italy penned a deal with China

to join the Belt and Road Initiative.

Actually, the signing included 29 separate deals,

worth a total of 2.8 billion dollars.

For example,

a deal to work together on technology for gas turbines.

Which Chinese companies will definitely not steal.

Pinky swear.

And Italy's CDP Bank signed

an agreement with the Bank of China

to create “panda bonds”.

These panda bonds will let mainland Chinese

invest in Italian debt.

To me, the red flag here is that

they're named after the one animal which—

no matter where it's born in the world—

ultimately belongs to China.

Nothing involving pandas is ever a smart choice, people!

You think these fangs are really for eating bamboo?!

Anyway, Italy's Deputy Prime Minister Luigi Di Mario—

What's that, Shelley?

It's Luigi Di Maio?

I knew it was too good to be true.

Anyway, he called the whole thing

not just a win-win,

but a win-win-win.

"Today is the day when the 'Made in Italy' wins,

Italy wins,

Italian companies win.

But there's at least one Italian official

who's not convinced it's a win-win-win for Italy.

Italy's other Deputy Prime Minister—

wait, why does Italy have two Deputy Prime Ministers?

Is that normal?

What's that Shelley?

Wow.

That's... really complicated.

Anyway, Italy's other Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini

made headlines by boycotting the signing ceremony.

Instead, he attended an event in northern Italy

where he told reporters that doing deals

with the Chinese Communist Party

is risky business.

Salvini said “Don't tell me that China

is a country where the free market prevails,

where the state doesn't interfere in the economy,

in the legal system,

in information.”

Yeah, I'm going to have to agree with

Italy's Deputy Prime Minister on this one.

The second Deputy Prime Minister, I mean.

The European Union is also not thrilled with Italy

jumping aboard the Belt and Road train.

The EU's budget commissioner said that

“The expansion of transport links

between Europe and Asia

is in itself a good thing,

*as long as* the autonomy and sovereignty of Europe

is not endangered.”

But that's the problem.

Because he then expressed “concern that in Italy

and other European countries,

infrastructure of strategic importance

like power networks,

rapid rail lines or harbors are no longer in European

but in Chinese hands.”

The EU is very connected.

Unified currency,

free trade,

basically no borders.

So what happens in Italy,

doesn't stay in Italy.

It affects all of Europe.

Of course, that's exactly what

the Chinese Communist Party is hoping for.

Italy is a great way for them

to get another foot in Europe's door.

Like through investing in the Italian port of Trieste.

And guess who else is yelling across the water at Italy?

America!

The National Security Council said in a tweet that

“Italy is a major global economy

and a great investment destination.

Endorsing BRI lends legitimacy

to China's predatory approach to investment

and will bring no benefits to the Italian people.”

The US government's main concern

is that Italy's Belt and Road deal

could be a ploy to strengthen China's military influence

and could be used to spread technologies

used for espionage.

And spread them not just in Italy,

but potentially throughout Europe.

Back in February,

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo

warned that the US wouldn't partner with countries

that use Huawei technology

because of security concerns.

Some Italian politicians have pushed for a Huawei 5G ban

after Pompeo's warning.

But Deputy Prime Minister Luigi “Win-win-win” Di Maio

doesn't seem the slightest bit concerned.

He told CNBC that the deals he signed contain

“nothing for them to worry about,

nothing relating to 5G or any agreement

on strategic telecommunications.”

And then, he says,

there's always “golden power.”

Golden power is special legislation

that gives the Italian government greater control

over strategic assets.

But now that China's got its first G7 country

hitched up to the Belt and Road train,

time will tell what win-win-win really looks like.

So what do you think about Italy

signing onto the Belt and Road?

Leave your comments below.

And now it's time for me to answer

a question from one of you—

fans who support China Uncensored

through the crowdfunding website Patreon.

The Maddest Hatter asks:

“Do you think the Belt and Road Initiative

is inherently bad?

Or do you think it could benefit everyone

if the CCP stopped using debt traps

and turned it into a more cooperative venture?

Good question.

Investment is not inherently bad.

But with the Belt and Road Initiative,

you have to consider the Chinese Communist Party's

strategic purpose behind the investment—

and you can tell by what they're investing in.

China is investing in technology partnerships

and raw materials.

Chinese companies then take this know-how

and materials back to China,

whether they make, well,

they make everything in China.

China also invests in building shipping ports,

airports, and rail lines.

This is largely so they can sell those

made-in-China goods to all the same countries

they took the technology and raw materials from.

If some of this strategy sounds familiar,

it is.

It's like what European colonizers did

back in the day.

Take other countries' raw materials,

manufacture everything in Europe,

and then sell them finished goods—

but don't encourage those countries

to do their own manufacturing.

And who got rich in that scheme?

The colonizers.

So the Belt and Road strategy

is inherently designed to exploit other countries.

Not to mention building military bases,

like the one in Djibouti.

In that sense, the Belt and Road Initiative

is fundamentally problematic.

I don't think it could ever be turned into

a truly cooperative venture,

because that's just not what it's designed to do.

Thanks for your question, Maddest Hatter.

And thank you for watching China Uncensored.

Support our show through the crowdfunding website Patreon...

...with a dollar or more per episode.

Once again, I'm Chris Chappell.

See you next time.