In a 7 billion euro international contract with China, Italy uncharacteristically and unilaterally tore up the contract and refused to fulfill its obligation to pay liquidated damages.
The huge order was signed in 2018 to allow the construction of the domestic section of the road in Italy to be contracted through a joint venture between China and Italy. Now, however, Italy has chosen to become an "old man" and refuses to pay liquidated damages.
This large-scale order is undoubtedly a great joy for our country, because we have made all the preparations, including experts and technicians have completed the design drawings.
So, what does the Italian side think? What will be the end result of this high-speed rail?
In 2018, Giuseppe, Italy, issued a statement that attracted great attention from China's high-speed rail construction company.
After 16 years of design and preparation, the railway project connecting Italy and France between the two countries was finally finalized in 2018. In this process, Italy** attaches great importance to the project, and has decided to hand it over to China, which is known as the "infrastructure madman".
However, when the project was about to be completed, this project attracted the attention and discussion of many netizens.
Japan's achievements in the field of high-tech have attracted much attention, but China's infrastructure construction after the reform and opening up has also been amazing, and it is known as the "infrastructure madness". Despite China's obvious advantages in infrastructure development, why did Italy choose to terminate the contract after signing it?
Is it to save money, or to improve relations with other countries? Netizens have different opinions about this. But to understand the whole story, we need to go back to the source.
In 2002, France began planning a railway connecting Lyon, France and Turin, Italy, with a total length of 270 kilometers.
The completion of the high-speed rail will greatly shorten the distance between the two cities, from the original seven hours to four hours, which is not only a great initiative, but also will become an important channel for cultural and economic exchanges between the two countries.
In addition, the construction of this railway is of great importance for Italy. As an established capitalist country, Italy's influence in history cannot be ignored.
However, compared to other capitalist countries, Italy has been relatively slow to recover from the war, the domestic economic situation is dire, the national power is declining, and the ruling party has taken a series of measures to restore the national economy.
Therefore, the construction of high-speed rail will not only bring convenience to transportation, but also bring new opportunities for Italy's economic development.
After Italy proposed the idea of building a high-speed railway connecting the early Renaissance central city of Turin and Lyon, France, France** responded positively. As a first-tier city in France, Lyon is rich in scientific research institutions and business centers, and this high-speed rail will bring a win-win situation for both countries.
Therefore, France and Italy reached an agreement to build this high-speed railway. At the parliamentary meeting in early 2002, the Italian prime minister announced the plan, but the reaction from the audience was lukewarm, because the Italian side was short of funds, and the promotion of the project was mainly on paper, such as inviting technical experts to draw drawings and engineering teams to conduct environmental surveys.
After six years of preparation, in 2008, the plan was officially put on the agenda.
While the French side is willing to take the responsibility, Italy is still hesitant about funding. So, who will solve the treacherous natural environment near the railway?
Despite its heavy debt, Italy was able to squeeze some of the money out of its tight treasury to support the construction of the railway.
Although this move is beneficial to the country and its people, Italy has not taken immediate action. They have been oscillating between Japan and China.
Although Japan has a lot of experience in building high-speed rail, while China is a little inferior as a developing country, Chinese companies believe that the Japanese are well prepared for it, and they have spent nearly five million dollars on preliminary survey and design.
However, just as the Japanese were preparing to start construction, Italy's prime minister, who was a staunch supporter of the railway, lost the election.
In the process of building the railway, the supporters were defeated**, and the construction process stalled as a result, much to Japan's deep dissatisfaction. Millions of dollars in investment went to waste. Italy's position on the new ** is also unclear.
At a time when we thought it was none of our business and chose to sit on the sidelines, Italian Prime Minister Matteo took office in 2014 and said that he was eager to contact our country because of pressure from France.
Unlike his predecessors, he was not pro-Japanese and even hated Japan's dominance in Italy's infrastructure. So when Japan cut the budget again to $4.5 million, he refused.
At this time, China, the "infrastructure madman", took over the project. After communicating with the Chinese construction and engineering companies, they welcomed it and demanded that China must design a number of solutions to deal with unexpected accidents according to the complex terrain of the Alps.
Chinese companies have shown their strength by not only offering multiple options, but also cutting their budgeted rents in half. When the news reached the ears of the Italian prime minister, he smiled: the Chinese company won the bid, and the engineering team immediately put into preparations.
The team made their way to the foot of the mountain range for a preliminary survey, but only a few months later, Italy suddenly and hastily released a document – and there was only one reason for their sudden change:
The Chinese construction team was amazed: without enough funds, Italy dared to build such a long railway. They have to ask: How is this done?
When the Chinese construction company took over the project, they did not realize that the so-called "funding problem" was just a pretext. In fact, the newly appointed Italians**, a representative of the Five Star Movement, believed that China's excellent railway construction plan was intended to "encroach" on their land at a low cost.
Obviously, Giuseppe** has a more obvious anti-China stance.
The construction of a railway in China was halted by opposition from the opposing leader, but instead of being resolved, the matter became more complicated. Both the ruling and opposition parties have fierce disputes over the railway, even extending the conflict to China.
They believe that China is forcibly building this railway to pave the way for itself in an attempt to invade their country one day. This absurd rhetoric quickly spread in Italian society, and the general population was affected, with some even mistakenly believing that residents living near the railway had joined the opposition.
Under the influence of the opposition of the people, the lack of support of political parties and the complex national conditions, China's construction is full of difficulties. However, despite the fact that the contract has been signed, our country has always insisted on winning the trust of the world with integrity.
Therefore, our country actively communicates with the Italian side and strives for cooperation. However, the Japanese side has also shown struggle with this, and they are not willing to let the railway construction project with large profits fall into the hands of our country, nor do they want our country to take the opportunity to get close to Western countries.
Therefore, Japanese engineering and construction companies have been lobbying Italy** not to cooperate with our country. In the face of pressure from the Italian side, our country made further overtures and promised that they could reap more benefits in future cooperation.
However, even so, in 2018, Giuseppe forcibly stopped the project.
This decision came as a surprise to both the EU and France. In fact, Giuseppe's decision was not something he could influence personally, but more importantly, the pressure of Italy's domestic political parties forced him to make such a decision.
In addition, Giuseppe himself is a national leader with anti-Chinese tendencies. In the face of such difficulties, they chose betrayal. However, judging from the development of the whole thing, it seems that there is a powerful force behind it, is it the Italian masses who oppose China's construction of high-speed rail?
Or was it forced to let go because of the struggle between Giuseppe and the partisanship? Or is it Japan that is inciting emotions? In fact, there is another force that has quietly become invisible.
The United States has used various means to obstruct China's development, but we have always adhered to the path of independence and self-determination, and we have not paid any attention to their interference. We solve problems in a peaceful way and have earned a good reputation and many friends internationally.
While Italy wanted to cooperate with China, the United States could not accept the ideological invasion of the West from the East. So, they promised to give Italy some kind of favor to prevent China from cooperating with it.
Although this incident has passed, France has built its own national road section because Italy has not fulfilled its commitments, and relations between the two countries have been very tense. The European Union has also condemned Italy's actions.
However, Italy chose to "put it on the ground" and refused to repay the 7 billion liquidated damages, even in the face of pressure, they still insisted on this behavior, and they always chose to pretend to be deaf and dumb when it came to the issue of liquidated damages, and even chose to evade responsibility under the protection of the United States.
So far, the money has not been returned.
What Italy is doing is indeed unacceptable, and the incitement of the United States behind it is also reprehensible. For other issues, we can negotiate and solve them, but the amount of liquidated damages of 7 billion is huge and Italy must repay.