This article argues that expansion of the BRI is used to trap European countries into debt, push political propoganda, and generally to allow China to buy up Europe. Thirteen other European nations have already signed such memoranda of understanding with China on the New Silk Road. The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is an ambitious effort to deepen regional cooperation and improve connectivity on a trans-continental scale.

READ FULL ARTICLE This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Belt and road has more pros than cons Resolved: The European Union should join the Belt and Road Initiative. We have programs available for individual students and schools. Loesekrug-Pietri says only a united Europe will be strong enough to stand up to China’s so-called Silk Road initiative, which many believe is designed to extend China’s influence in Europe and beyond.“Italy, whose economy has sagged for decades, says the potential economic benefits are too great to pass up,” Some seven centuries after the legendary Venetian explorer and merchant Marco Polo embarked on his odyssey to China, Beijing’s emissaries are establishing a beachhead of their own in Italy. by Joshua Hu | Aug 21, 2019 | Announcements , Public Forum , Research | 0 comments Our researchers have been hard at work, and we are finally happy to announce that our first Public Forum Sourcebook for the 2019-20 topic (Resolved: The European Union should join the Belt and Road Initiative) is finally complete. While the scope of the initiative is still taking shape, the BRI consists primarily of the “No need for Italian government to lend legitimacy to China’s infrastructure vanity project.”ANDRE LOESEKRUG-PIETRI: Everything shows that the Chinese are playing divide and conquer. Most recently, Chinese carmaker Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co gained a nearly 10% stake in Germany’s automotive giant Daimler in 2018.It has been reported that owing to Chinese investments being made in “critical” or “sensitive” sectors, some EU Member States, and in particular Germany and France have advocated more stringent screening criteria for foreign direct investments.27Apparently in response to these concerns, on 5 March 2019, the Council of the EU — one of the EU’s main decision-making bodies—adopted Regulation (EU) 2019/452 which established a framework for the screening of foreign direct investments into the EU (the “Screening Regulation”).According to the Screening Regulation, security screening is necessary in a number of areas including: food supply, energy and raw materials; access to sensitive information such as personal data; critical infrastructure such as transport, energy, water, communication, defence; critical technologies such as artificial intelligence, robotics, cybersecurity, aerospace, nano and biotechnologies; and the freedom and pluralism of the media.Furthermore, if an investment concern the several EU Member States, or if an investment could affect a project or program of interest to the whole EU (such as Galileo28 or Horizon 202029), then the EU Commission will be empowered to issue opinions on the admission of the investment.30The Screening Regulation thus grants significant powers to EU bodies and has the potential to significantly impact upon Chinese investment into Italy and elsewhere in the EU.How much it will impact such investments will ultimately depend on how the screening process is implemented in practice.Given the many factors at play, it is difficult to predict whether the conclusion of the China-Italy MoU will lead to an increase in Chinese investment into Italy and the wider EU, particularly in the long term.Recent data seems to suggest that the signing of the China-Italy MoU has bolstered Chinese investment in Italy.In April 2019, it was reported that Chinese investors signed separate deals in Italy amounting to USD 2.8 billion worth of projects.Whether this upward trend will continue is likely to be influenced by other factors, in particular, the application of the Screening Regulation, which could have a dampening effect.At present, there remain more questions than answers. Not only in word, but also in concrete ways, China has to do all it can to make sure that the Belt and Road’s benefits reach the citizens of Europe. The project, eventually termed the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) . It’s also one I think is important for students to learn about because the Belt and Road Initiative is something that will significantly impact global development in the not so distant future. It would be the first G7 member to do so, though not the first EU country—Eastern European countries such as Hungary and Poland are already on board, as are Greece and Portugal. That means ensuring that the initiative does not enlarge the gap between Europe’s rich and poor, but instead offers something to people at all levels of society. Germany’s opposition is reportedly behind-the-scenes, but the American displeasure is out in the open. “Italy is a major global economy and great investment destination,” tweeted Garrett Marquis, a Trump special assistant. On Wednesday, it was reported by Handelsblatt that 27 out of 28 EU ambassadors to China signed a report criticizing China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). EU presents (nearly) united front against China’s ‘unfair’ Belt and Road Initiative The European Union has expressed increasing concerns about China’s influence over the continent. "What is very important for Europe is that the European companies in China would be treated in the same way how the Chinese companies are treated in Europe. However, in Brussels the European Union stressed the risks of the Italian government's decision to approve participation in the Belt and Road Initiative. Alicia Garcia Herrero and Jianwei Xu, “Last week, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said his country saw an “opportunity” in Belt and Road, and was considering signing up.