The Democratic Party’s China problem

At the end of June, former Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen arrived in Rome for the first time, almost on the quiet. There was no official state visit protocol; just a tour of Palazzo Madama and a meeting with a number of parliamentary representatives – all of them, that is, except those from the PD. And to think that the former President of Taiwan – now a private citizen – who transformed the island into a bastion of global democracy and Asian progressivism, was in Italy to attend Hillary Clinton’s Global Women Leaders Summit on Lake Como. 

The discretion with which she was received was not solely an Italian choice: Tsai’s presence outside Taiwan’s borders is almost always enough to provoke formal protests from Chinese embassies, which regard the former Taiwanese president as a particularly sensitive figure, precisely because of her political history, her charisma and her influence. But during those same days in June, Lin Chia-lung, Taiwan’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, was also in Milan, having arrived in Italy to strengthen industrial and commercial ties. He, too, met with local political representatives. Again, none from the PD. Within the context of Italian parliamentary diplomacy towards China, this pattern reveals something more specific: the Democratic Party is happy to talk to Beijing, but far less so with those who have to deal with the consequences of Beijing’s policies on a daily basis. With next year’s general election approaching, the question that many observers – even beyond Italy’s borders – are beginning to ask is: how does the PD expect to understand China if it talks almost exclusively to China? On industrial overcapacity, economic coercion, transnational repression, espionage and disinformation, international partnerships and, last but not least, the revision of the National Defence Mobilisation Act, approved last Friday, even centre-left forces in Europe and the United States recognise that they must engage with China, but also that they must listen to those who have for years been forced to grapple with the consequences of Beijing’s policies. In Italy, however, the main opposition force – despite the highly topical issue of the People’s Republic’s role in the world – has voluntarily opted for a selective, almost exclusive approach to listening. According to Il Foglio, this is a deliberate political choice by the leadership, which aims to forge increasingly strong behind-the-scenes relations with Beijing, avoiding situations that might irritate China, and thus leaving the issue to the centre-right parties.

Further evidence of this came yesterday, when one of the largest Italian parliamentary delegations in recent years landed in Taiwan: ten MPs from both the government and the opposition, led by Lega Senator Gian Marco Centinaio. In addition to three Lega MPs, the delegation includes three from Forza Italia, two from Italia Viva, one from Azione and one from Noi Moderati. No one from the Democratic Party. A meeting with President Lai Ching-te is scheduled, but much of the MPs’ programme is devoted to very practical matters: industry, trade, technology and even culture. In July, the Italian Parliament voted in favour of a guarantee of immunity from seizure for foreign artefacts temporarily loaned to Italian museums, subject to reciprocity – a crucial provision for Taiwan, as Beijing may contest international loans and claim the right to seize them on the basis of China’s alleged sovereignty over the island. The Democratic Party voted against the bill.

It is no secret that some of the leading figures in the Democratic Party (PD) have, over the years, built relationships with the People’s Republic, from Romano Prodi to Massimo D’Alema. But the phenomenon is now broader and more complex: a month ago, Vinicio Peluffo, an MP for the Democratic Party, led a parliamentary delegation to the People’s Republic. Peluffo, president of the parliamentary association ‘Friends of China’, recounted during the visit that he had walked on Nanhu Island, visited the Revolution Memorial Museum and seen the Red Boat up close – the symbolic site of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party: “Understanding these historical developments is the first step towards building relations based on mutual respect,” said Peluffo in a speech delivered on 20 July in Jiaxing, Zhejiang Province, in the presence of Ma Hui, deputy director of the International Department of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party. But to truly understand the People’s Republic of China, one must speak to those who deal with it on a daily basis. And to think that, from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to Canadian Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, the international political figures with whom Elly Schlein is most often compared have a much more nuanced discussion on China than that of the PD.