President Joe Biden met with Italy’s new leader Thursday at the White House, where the two reaffirmed their support for Ukraine and talked of countering Beijing’s growing ambitions – a particularly salient point for Rome as it mulls quitting China’s Belt and Road Initiative.

Biden suggested that the U.S. could fill the gap.

“We’re going to talk about our deepening economic connection that has fueled more than $100 billion in trade last year,” Biden said. “In my mind, there’s no reason why that can’t increase.”

“We know who our friends are in times that are tough,” Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said, in English, sitting next to Biden in the Oval Office. “And I think Western nations have shown that they can rely on each other much more than some have believed.”

After the meeting, the two leaders released a lengthy joint statement affirming their “unshakable alliance, strategic partnership and deep friendship.”

“The United States welcomes the increased presence of Italy in the [Indo-Pacific] region,” the statement read. “The two sides reiterate the vital importance of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, which is instrumental to regional and global security and prosperity. The United States and Italy also commit to strengthen bilateral and multilateral consultations on the opportunities and challenges posed by the People’s Republic of China.”

The far-right Italian leader is facing heavy pressure and “thinly veiled threats from Beijing” to stay in the agreement, which comes up for renewal in early 2024, wrote Brookings Institution analyst Carlo Bastasin this week.

“The prime minister, in other words, is finding out how unrealistic it would be for a country the size of Italy to pursue an isolated nationalism or aggressive rhetoric against China,” he wrote. “It would be much more reasonable for her to join forces with the other European countries in search of an agreement with the Biden administration.”

Earlier this week, Beijing urged Rome to stay on the path.

“For China and Italy, Belt and Road cooperation began as a new platform for practical cooperation,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said. “It has achieved mutually beneficial results in a range of areas. It is in both sides’ interests to further tap into the potential of our Belt and Road cooperation.”

The White House disagrees.

“It’s becoming increasingly obvious that more and more countries around the world are seeing the risks and, quite frankly, the lack of reward for economic partnerships with China in — in that regard,” John Kirby, director of strategic communications for the National Security Council, said ahead of Meloni’s visit.

“We’ve created an alternative,” he said, referring to Biden’s Partnership for Global Investment and Infrastructure (PGII). “I mean, that is a good alternative, and it is getting some traction. And so, we’re going to continue to invest in that and continue to encourage our partners to as well.”

Meanwhile, Meloni, who swept to power in 2022 as leader of the right-wing populist Brothers of Italy party, faces criticism for her harsh stance on sexual minorities and recent moves to restrict rights for same-sex parents. When asked if Biden would raise that, Kirby said the president would.

“We approach our engagement with countries around the world from that perspective — a respect for human rights, civil rights, freedom of expression and equality,” he said. “And we’re never shy about stating that either publicly or privately, and we’ll continue to do that.”
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