Generational Dynamics World View

[John J. Xenakis]

** 22-Mar-2019 Italy joining China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)

• Xi Jinping and his wife, Peng Liyua, arrive in Italy
  on Thursday

Alarms are being raised in the US and other Western countries over a
visit to Italy on Thursday by China's president Xi Jinping, and an
agreement to a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) about a deal to make
Italy the first major democracy to join China’s Belt and Road
infrastructure initiative.

The MoU is not an agreement, but is just a compendium of reassuring
phrases like "friendship" and "mutual economic benefit." Full details
of the planned infrastructure project have not been released, but it
reportedly includes collaboration and investments in the northern
Italian ports of Genoa and Trieste as well as roads, railways,
airports and telecommunications.

Italy is desperate for money, so this seems like the perfect
solution. But concerns are being raised for two reasons.

First, China could set a debt trap and gain ownership of Italy's
ports. The Chinese already own Greece's port of Piraeus, which the
China shipping company Cosco acquired in 2016.

Second, any servers or networks installed by the Chinese are going to
be subject to Chinese law which requires Huawei and other Chinese
companies to cooperate with the military in stealing intelligence from
other countries, even when doing so would be illegal. Furthermore,
it's widely understood that Huawei has almost certainly installed
undetectable "backdoors" in all its devices, from smartphones to
routers, since it's very easy to do so, and China's military can use
those backdoors to steal data or control the devices from Beijing.
China has been subsidizing Huawei in order to gain international
market share, and any Huawei device or network with backdoors can be
shut down or controlled at a time of the Chinese military's choosing.

So if Italy's infrastructure deal with China included a 5G network,
then that network would be under the control of China's military, and
could affect the security of interconnected networks throughout Europe.


Article 7 of China's National Intelligence Law says:

Quote:> "All organizations and citizens shall, in accordance with the law,
> support, cooperate with, and collaborate in national intelligence
> work, and guard the secrecy of national intelligence work they are
> aware of. The state will protect individuals and organizations
> that support, cooperate with, and collaborate in national
> intelligence work."

It was revealed last year that, from January 2012 to January 2017,
China was continually hacking African Union servers in Addis Ababa
that Huawei had deployed. Every night, from midnight to 2 am for five
years, servers in Shanghai were hacking the African Union servers and
stealing data.

It went further -- after the data theft was discovered, a sweep for
bugs revealed microphones hidden in desks and walls.

The visit by Xi Jinping has split Italy's ruling coalition. The
far-right Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini is opposed, while
coalition partner Luigi Di Maio is a supporter.

In 2012, eleven EU member states and five Balkan countries signed an
MoU with China on investment, transport, finance, science, education,
and culture. In 2018, Greece and Portugal signed similar MoUs, as
China had already made major investments in both countries.

But Italy is considered a far greater risk because Italy is a member
of the G7 group of countries, and because Italy’s economy is larger
than that of all the other EU countries combined that signed the MoU
with China. The potential impact on trade and investment to and from
China is, therefore, much more significant.


----- Sources:

-- China's new Silk Road gets bumpy as Xi visits Italy
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/bus...y-11368812
(AFP, 22-Mar-2019)

-- Italy-China Memorandum of understanding
https://www.corriere.it/economia/19_marz...2643.shtml
(Corriere.it, 19-Mar-2019)


-- China’s Xi visits Italy with infrastructure deal as prize
https://www.pressherald.com/2019/03/21/c...-as-prize/
(AP)

-- Italy’s Embrace of China’s Belt and Road Initiative Comes With
Risks and Opportunity
https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/ne...pportunity
(Atlantic Council, 20-Mar-2019)


-- The African Union headquarters hack and Australia’s 5G network
https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/the-af...g-network/
(ASPI, Australian Strategic Policy Institute, 13-Jul-2018)


-- Belt and Road Initiative / G7 / Italy’s Risky China Gamble
https://thediplomat.com/2019/03/italys-r...na-gamble/
(Diplomat, 14-Mar-2019)


-- Interview: Xi's upcoming visit to boost China-Italy cooperation
under BRI, says Italian PM
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-03...913695.htm
(Xinhua, 22-Mar-2019)