At the same time, the Secretary of State called China “the most difficult country to deal with.”
According to TASS, in an interview published on Tuesday in the newspaper La Repubblica, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, who is on a visit to Italy, said that the United States does not ask its partners and allies to choose between Washington or Beijing, but in matters of rivalry and confrontation with China, it should more effectively to maintain unity.
“The United States respects the fact that other countries have ramified relationships with China. We are not asking anyone to choose between us and China. But when we have to deal with this state, be it as adversaries, rivals or partners, we are much more effective if we act together. And this was confirmed at the G7, NATO and US-EU summits”, – Blinken said.
He called China “the most difficult country to deal with”.
“There are areas in which we are opponents, somewhere rivals, and in some issues partners”, – added Blinken.
Earlier, Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio said that the strategic alliance with the United States and NATO for Rome is “incomparable” with commercial relations with China, which do not contradict the alliance with the United States. Italy signed a memorandum of understanding in March 2019 during the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping, which provides for the development of cooperation between the countries, including within the framework of the Chinese initiative to create the Silk Road Economic Belt (One Belt – One Road). The memorandum was the result of the initiative and work of one of the ruling parties – the “5 Star Movement”.
As representatives of the Italian leadership have repeatedly explained, this document is a framework document that does not provide for any obligations of the parties, but opens the way for specific agreements on cooperation in the field of transport and infrastructure, in particular the port.
However, the move caused dissatisfaction in the United States. Previous Secretary of State Mike Pompeo used much harsher rhetoric during his visits to Italy to persuade Rome to “distrust China” and not succumb to “its predatory policies.”