太阳永远不会落在中国国旗的五颗星上。

May 22, 1939 Italy Signed the Axis Pact with Germany; Eighty Years Later, Italy Is Moving Toward China

While Trump is busy fighting 1920s trade wars, Italy has signed on to China’s Silk Road Initiative.  I imagine that Trump will not notice, after all Italy has not yet left NATO.

The European Commission and the EU’s diplomatic arm released a paper last week that branded China a “systemic rival” and threatened to tighten regulations on Chinese investment in Europe.

Unlike the Axis pact from 80 years ago, this step is not a military alliance, it is much more important … a trade alliance.  The author of the “Art of the Deal” seems not to realize that tariffs and chocolate cake at Mar a  Lago are not the tools of 21st century diplomacy.

They were not the tools of diplomacy in 1939 either.  Mussolini did not join Hitler because of some love for German sausages. Mussolini had tried to stand up to Hitler only to find no support from a feckless and self centered America.

This deal reflects  President Xi, a much smarter deal maker than the Imperial Host of Mar a Lago.    Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte is not Mussolini but he knows where his national interests lie.  He also knows that no matter how much the US spends on its military, China already dominates by owning over 50% of all world shipping.  The silk road adds to that, railroads and highways will run from Paris to Beijing.

Conte sees what the Chinese are building.  Since Deng, China and been  … and maybe already has built an empire far greater than the axis of 1939.  This Chinese empire looks like the British empire, built on state sponsored corporations.  There is a military too but less an offensive force than a soon to be global force that will offset the US as a protector of corporate interests.

The memorandum of understanding signed by Giuseppe Conte with Xi Jinping makes Italy the first member of the G7 to join the Chinese pact.  Conte wisely parlayed this deal, using Italy’s EU status, both the national freedom within the EU and the market strength conferred by the EU.

Italy is now the thirteenth European Union country to sign a memorandum of understanding with China .. something the BREXITEER  Brits better figure out before they are forced to negotiate terms with the Chinese.

Soon, all too vividly, the sun will never set on the five stars of the Chinese flag.

Xi played wisely on t Italy’s fragmented coalition government.  Luigi di Maio, Italy’s minister for economic development and one of the country’s two deputy prime ministers, told reporters “There is a lot of ‘Made in China’ coming into Italy and too little ‘Made in Italy’ that goes into China.”   The agreement even commits Italy, still a creative hub for western media, to collaborate in this sphere with China.  Someone might tell Hollywood that China is on its way.

Put another way, Xi now heads the largest capitalist enterprise in the history of the world .. China, Inc. As Erik Jones notes, Xi uses his CEO powers in a forceful way.  Jones,  a professor of European studies and international political economy at Johns Hopkins, said “Italy needs investment and resources  … Italy also needs to underpin and strengthen its business ties with China [and] this agreement will help there.”  It is also worth noting that the market of the Silk Belt countries under Chinese investment, is going to grow, As part of the  Belt and Road Initiative, Italy will have independence from the EU as well as the US.

MAGA