Italy’s Meloni meets with China’s Li as Italy’s continued participation in ‘Belt and Road’ in doubt

ROME (AP) — Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni has met with Chinese Premier Li Qiang on the sidelines of the G20 summit. She vowed Saturday to “consolidate and deepen” relations as her government considers abandoning Beijing’s “Belt and Road” initiative of Chinese-built and -funded infrastructure projects. Neither government mentioned the initiative in brief statements after the meeting, the first between Meloni and Li. But both sides talked about strengthening and deepening ties. Italy became the first G7 country to sign on to the initiative in 2019, when the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement was in power. Meloni at the time voiced strong opposition to the project, and her right-wing government now in power has indicated it wants to abandon the initiative.