Alessandro Albana

Adjunct Professor, Department of Asian and North African Studies, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice

Alessandro Albana is an adjunct professor at the Department of Asian and North African Studies of the Ca’ Foscari University of Venice. He earned his PhD in "Global and International Studies" from the University of Bologna. Alessandro collaborates with the Asia Institute in Bologna, and the Fudan Development Institute at Fudan University in Shanghai. Alessandro’s research interests span the domestic politics and foreign policy, the political development, and the social movements of China and East Asia.

 

Italian Prime Minister and leader of Brothers of Italy party Giorgia Meloni gestures as she attends an event to mark the 10th anniversary of the foundation of Brothers of Italy party in Rome, Italy, 17 December 2022. (Remo Casilli/Reuters)

Italy’s right-wing government can't make up its mind about China?

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and her party seem to be adopting a see-saw position on China, notes Italian academic Alessandro Albana. In contrast to voicing strong criticisms in the run-up to the elections, the new right-wing government seems to be engaging China, not least with PM Meloni striking a rapport with China’s President Xi Jinping at the G20 Summit in Bali. Do economic imperatives trump election rhetoric after all?