April 2019

The debate about how to balance the risks and the opportunities produced by China’s growing engagement with the region was the main topic in the Mediterranean media in April, although with important differences in terms of depth of reporting and attitude toward China.

We begin this month’s review with Southern Europe. In Italy, there are still doubts and concerns about the choice made by the government to sign the MOU for cooperation under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative with China. Despite the efforts of the government to highlight the economic opportunities that a closer relationship with China could bring and, at the same time, Italy’s commitment to its traditional allies and partners in the West, Italian media published a series of articles about the presence of backdoors in the Huawei-provided equipment to Vodafone (one of Italy’s telecommunication companies), the combination of extreme right-wing political preferences and univocal pro-China attitude of some of the members of the so-called “China Task Force” of the Ministry of Economic Development, and the damage to the relations with the United States and other European countries. [1] American diplomats and officials, too, intervened in the debate to add further pressure on the government. [2]

Chinese investments are also a contentious issue in Greece. The Mayor of Piraeus, Mr. Yiannis M. Maralis, reportedly complained about the delay of eight months to the expansion of the port in his city due to the decisions taken by the Central Archaeological Council and the Port Planning and Development Committee. [3] While the Council ordered that it must be verified that there are no archeological artifacts in the area where the new facilities may be built, the Committee rejected some of the proposals made by COSCO. Instead, Syriza’s candidate in the local elections, Nikos Belavilas, supported the decision of the Council. Yet, as the declaration of a Greek diplomat and the comments of experts from the Institute of International Economic Relations shows, the Syriza-led government remains strongly in favor of continuing to strengthen relations with China despite or, as the diplomat declared because, because of tense relations with the EU. [4]

Meanwhile, we can already see how the recent turn in Sino-Italian relations is affecting other European countries. The Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia reported that the government in Madrid is planning to make more difficult for non-EU investors to enter strategic sectors of the economy, especially the energy industry. [5] The target is China and Italy, the energy giant ENI in particular, is portrayed as the potential bridge for the Chinese state-owned energy company CNPC to gain control or share of Endesa, which is the largest electric utility company in Spain and is controlled by ENI. Reportedly, the Spanish government is acting also because China Three Gorges, which owns 23% of the Portuguese energy company EDP, asked to eliminate the limits to the voting rights of shareholders that have less than 25% of the shares (a request that was denied). Yet, media also continue to write on the importance of the Chinese market for Spanish exports. [6]

Differently from the other three European countries, French media are more focused on Chinese presence in Africa, although they made no reference to France’s role there (as happened in March). Le Monde published an article arguing that this is a crucial moment for China’s Africa diplomacy. [7] As many African countries went to Beijing for the second Belt and Road Forum to renegotiate their debt, China will have to decide whether to consent and face other debtors that will want to do the same, or accept the potential damage to its relations with Africa. At the same time, China is not the only country that is expanding its presence there. Russia, Turkey and India, too, have significantly expanded their presence in Africa. [8] All this attention, wrote Sebastien Le Belzic, serves to remind us that Africa is at the center of today’s international politics. The presence of investors from China and other countries is, therefore, presented as a positive factor for the development of Africa, under the condition that African people are able to seize this opportunity.

The same kind of distance is impossible to find in Israeli media. This is especially true as the newspaper Maariv published a very interesting backstage story related to Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to the United States on March 25-26, 2019. [9] President Donald Trump signed the presidential proclamation that recognized Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights on March 25, and it seems that was not a gift. Rather, it came with a clear demand for the Israeli leader: Israel cannot let China enter its strategic infrastructure. According to persons that were present at the meeting, Trump did not give an ultimatum but he wanted to know what Netanyahu was doing to address the concerns that had been repeatedly expressed by American officials. Israeli officials told the journalist that the Israeli leader told his American counterpart that all the necessary regulatory tools will be in place soon but, the officials also pointed out, it is likely that it will take some time because of division within the government.

Finally, we close with issue with news from Iran and Arab countries, which, despite the tense relations with each other, are quite similar in terms of national narratives about China. For example, the words used by Iranian officials to comment on the second Belt and Road Forum and those used by Bahraini officials to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the relations between Beijing and Manama are very similar: China is an important economic and diplomatic player in the Middle East for their respective countries. [10] Emirati and Kuwaiti media limited themselves to talking about the pavilions of their country at the International Horticultural Exhibition 2019, that took place in Beijing in April. [11]