Italy

‘Hanger war’ and more: Chinese merchants fight over logistics turf in Prato, Italy

In the city of Prato in Tuscany, Italy, incidents of crime involving the Chinese mafia are on the rise, not least in the the textile industry where feuds such as a “hanger war” among Chinese manufacturers have taken place. While the key fight is in the logistics arena, the overall atmosphere of tension has local officials on the alert. Italian academic Alessandro Albana surveys the situation.

Alessandro Albana

Trump’s best collaborator in the EU

The EU has not been very enthusiastic about US President Donald Trump’s recent moves, except for one country. Journalist Chieh-Yi Cheng looks at how Italy is trying to get on Trump’s good side.

Chieh-Yi Cheng

Venice Biennale 2024: Troubled worlds on art’s stage

Keong Ruoh Ling decodes the 60th Venice Biennale 2024, seeing it as a framework of understanding the world. The stories of those on the margins — the migrants, the outsider artists, the global south — come together in a patchwork of artworks. In the theatre of the geopolitics of art that is the Venice Biennale, one sees the different acts playing out.

Keong Ruoh Ling

Chinese tomato paste imports stir debate in Italy

Agriculture is usually not central to Italy-China ties, says academic Alessandro Albana. But Italian protests over Chinese tomato paste offer insights into complex China-Italy and China-Europe relations.

Alessandro Albana

Mismatch between women's wants and social support cause of Italy's demographic woe

Italy is facing a major population challenge in late marriages and low birth rates, as young people struggle to start their own families given low incomes and larger global issues such as war and climate change. Can the conservative party Brothers of Italy convince young people to have more children?

Chieh-Yi Cheng

What Italy's likely exit from the BRI says about its relations with China

While Italy's imminent withdrawal from the BRI is a symbolic setback, the country still plans to engage China and reap the economic benefits. Would this be easier said than done with the departure from the MOU ruffling the Chinese and the need to keep within the lines drawn by the EU? Italian academic Alessandro Albana examines the issue.

Alessandro Albana

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?

Alessandro Albana

Beijing Olympics diplomatic boycott: Does China care?

Following the announcement of the US's diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics, Australia, the UK, and Canada have also joined the boycott, while New Zealand has cited the pandemic as its reason for not sending ministerial-level officials to the Games. Zaobao associate editor Han Yong Hong examines the moves by these countries, and notes that perhaps the real reason for the US boycott has more to do with US-China competition and the need to play to the domestic gallery. And while China has reacted strongly to the boycott, is it truly concerned?

Han Yong Hong

Egyptian-American architect: I see China in rural Italy

In this photo series, Hisham Youssef captures unexpected parallels between the countryside in China and Italy. Different cultures and many miles apart, the similarities are uncanny.

Hisham Youssef