Screenshots of Chinese media reports claiming that COVID-19 originated in Italy. (Screenshots\/The Epoch Times)<\/em><\/p>\n A screenshot of a Chinese media report claiming that COVID-19 originated in Italy. (Screenshot\/The Epoch Times)<\/em><\/p>\n This soon was exposed as fake news.<\/strong><\/p>\n The\u00a0Italian embassy in Beijing<\/a>\u00a0issued a statement that afternoon, saying that \u201cThe Italian Embassy strongly emphasizes that the content of the article concerning the Prime Minister\u2019s remarks is a complete lie and that the information has no basis whatsoever.\u201d<\/p>\n This happened shortly after Italy\u2019s recent veto of Beijing\u2019s\u00a0attempted takeover of LPE<\/a>, a Milan-based semiconductor manufacturer, on March 31.<\/strong><\/p>\n There is no way of knowing if the fake COVID-19 origins report was Beijing\u2019s retaliation for the aborted deal but it certainly didn\u2019t ease tensions between the two countries.<\/p>\n Italy\u2019s blocking of the Chinese acquisition was an abrupt change in course for the European nation that had been growing a close relationship with the Chinese regime in Beijing.<\/p>\n In 2019, Italy under the leadership of\u00a0former Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, became the first G7 country to embrace China\u2019s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), against the advice of the United States and other G7 members.<\/p>\n In 2020 when the pandemic hit, Italy was the most impacted country in Europe. China donated 31 tons of personal protective equipment and virus testing kits to Italy in March 2020, as well as a dozen medical experts to support the health response.<\/p>\n Italy had also been one of the most pro-China EU members in recent\u00a0decades.<\/strong>\u00a0Between 2000 and 2019, Italy received 15.9 billion\u00a0euros ($19.25 billion) in Chinese investments, making it Europe\u2019s third biggest beneficiary. Recent financial troubles saw numerous China-based companies acquire a number of Italian businesses. As of 2020, more than 400 Chinese groups held stakes in 760 Italian companies across \u201chighly profitable or strategic sectors.\u201d<\/p>\n One of the best-known acquisitions was that of the AC Milan football club for 740 million euros ($788 million), previously owned by former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.<\/p>\n An aerial view of the port city of Trieste in Italy which China is considering for its Belt and Road Initiative. (Alberto Pizzoli\/AFP\/Getty Images)<\/em><\/p>\n But the change in approach to China didn\u2019t surprise experts like Cheng Chin-mo, director at the Department of Diplomacy and International Relations of the Tamkang University in Taiwan.<\/p>\n \u201cThis demonstrates the unravelling of China\u2019s diplomacy in Europe,\u201d Cheng told The Epoch Times.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are five reasons why this is bound to happen.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Although China\u2019s \u201cmask diplomacy\u201d strategy helped ease some immediate supply shortages for Italy, the country can\u2019t forget that China\u2019s cover up of its coronavirus breakout caused the catastrophe in the first place,<\/strong>\u00a0Cheng said. Italians have seen four million COVID-19 infections, and almost 127,000 deaths from the disease caused by the\u00a0Chinese Communist Party (CCP) virus<\/a>. The pandemic was devastating for Italy\u2019s already struggling economy, causing a 13 percent drop in per capita income in 2020 while the economy contracted by almost 11 percent. Free facial masks are just not enough to clear the clouds, Cheng said.<\/p>\n Secondly, China has made itself with a bad reputation in business ethics and conduct over the past decade,\u00a0<\/strong>Cheng said, adding that Chinese businesses and investors are known for violating local regulations and agreements, which deeply upsets Europeans who value integrity.<\/p>\n \u201cChinese money was enthusiastically welcomed in Italy when the BRI MoU was signed in 2019. But the country has since found no material benefit from the collaborations,\u201d he added. \u201cOn the contrary, some century old Italian businesses have turned for the worse or even went bankrupt after they started partnering with China.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Thirdly, China\u2019s \u201cwolf warrior diplomacy\u201d has turned many former fans off,<\/strong>\u00a0Cheng said. In response to the EU\u2019s sanctions in March over the regime\u2019s genocide of Uyghurs in Xinjiang, China\u2019s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that the sanctions were based on \u201cnothing but lies and disinformation.\u201d It asked Brussels to \u201creflect on itself [and] face squarely the severity of its mistake\u201d and stop \u201cinterfering in [China\u2019s\u2019] internal affairs.\u201d<\/p>\n Draghi\u2019s political position is the fourth factor,\u00a0<\/strong>Cheng said. Draghi, who holds a very friendly attitude towards the United States and the EU, described his foreign policy as \u201cstrongly pro-European and Atlanticist, in line with Italy\u2019s historical anchors.\u201d Contrary to his predecessor, Draghi, who was elected in February, has shown clear determination to seek alliance with the United States. Shortly after his appointment, Draghi reaffirmed Rome\u2019s membership in NATO and the historic friendship between Italy and the United States. The vetoing of the LPE deal is seen as a signal of the new administration\u2019s focus on stemming Beijing\u2019s political and economic influence in Italy,\u00a0Cheng said.<\/p>\n Lastly, Cheng pointed to the global environment, which is turning against China.<\/strong>\u00a0The U.S.-led international effort to curb communist China\u2019s global expansion and human rights abuses, as well as the investigation in China\u2019s role in the outbreak of the pandemic, have encouraged G7 countries to openly speak and act against the\u00a0CCP<\/a>\u2019s atrocities, which they had avoided for many years fearing hurt to their business relationship with China. Meanwhile, Europe is growing much more wary of the threat the CCP\u2019s poses to nation\u2019s security after the CCP\u2019s infiltration tools such as Huawei and the Confucius Institute were exposed.<\/p>\n However, public sentiment toward the Chinese regime may take some time to change, as many Italian national media outlets have been frequently publishing pro-regime content\u00a0and the mindsets of their journalists have been infiltrated quite deeply by CCP propaganda. Francesco Galietti of the Rome-based thinktank Policy Sonar\u00a0told<\/a>\u00a0Breitbart that \u201cthe Chinese have 100 percent infiltrated Italian media.\u201d<\/p>\n A new electronic billboard leased by Xinhua, the news agency operated by the Chinese regime, makes its debut in New York\u2019s Times Square on Aug. 1, 2011. (Stan Honda\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/em><\/p>\n Breitbart also revealed in a June 7\u00a0report<\/a>\u00a0that an Italian-language video series on \u201cXi Jinping\u2019s Classical Quotes\u201d developed by Chinese state-owned China Media Group had been broadcast on Italy\u2019s Mediaset and the Chinese-language outlet Cinitalia.<\/p>\n \u201cThe National Associated Press Agency (ANSA), Italy\u2019s equivalent to The Associated Press or Agence France Presse, has also been publishing up to 50 Italian language wire articles per day from Xinhua News Agency, the state-run wire service for the\u00a0Chinese Communist Party<\/a>. Again, ANSA does not disclose to its readers that the Chinese government runs and approves all Xinhua content,\u201d the report read.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Italian national newspaper Il Giornale has been publishing CCP propaganda regularly since 2019. A May article in Il Giornale suggested that reports about the CCP\u2019s genocide of the Muslim Uyghur people were a mere \u201cmedia manipulation of events\u201d crafted to use \u201chuman rights concerns\u201d to further America\u2019s foreign policy agenda, echoing the regime\u2019s party line.<\/p>\n The Breitbart report also noted that a magazine published by Cinitalia \u201copenly admits that it produces its Italian content in association with the Chinese Embassy in Italy.\u201d<\/p>\n Il Giornale is owned by former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, who was critical of the CCP until he sold the AC Milan soccer club to Chinese investors for $788 million in 2017 due to financial troubles. Since then, Il Giornale\u2019s China-related content have looked very similar to the CCP\u2019s propaganda.<\/p>\n EU members, including Italy and Hungary, are starting to push back on the CCP\u2019s coercion both economically and politically.<\/p>\n The EU condemned the Chinese regime\u2019s human rights record in a conference earlier this year, and France sent a\u00a0warship and submarine<\/a>\u00a0to the South China Sea for a \u201cfreedom of navigation\u201d patrol in February.<\/strong><\/p>\n On May 22, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said in a statement that the Baltic nation does not see itself as part of\u00a0Beijing\u2019s \u201c17+1\u201d platform<\/a>\u00a0for EU member states and\u00a0five Balkan countries anymore, according to the Baltic News Service. He said the Chinese platform was \u201cdivisive\u201d from the EU\u2019s point of view and called on EU members to pursue \u201ca much more effective 27+1 approach\u201d for its communication with China.<\/p>\n Hungarian premier Viktor Orban, who has\u00a0reportedly<\/a>\u00a0built cordial ties with the Chinese regime, including massive joint business projects, and has several times this year blocked EU statements denouncing the Chinese regime\u2019s record on human rights, had to pause a planned project with China\u2019s Fudan University amidst massive\u00a0protests<\/a>\u00a0this month. His government has since announced a\u00a0referendum<\/a>\u00a0on the project.<\/strong><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/assets.zerohedge.com\/s3fs-public\/styles\/inline_image_mobile\/public\/inline-images\/italy-id13006041-d3866244d5fca888afdfb021f7da0934-e1623106085782-600x391.jpg?itok=19YOu1a4\")
<\/picture><\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/assets.zerohedge.com\/s3fs-public\/styles\/inline_image_mobile\/public\/inline-images\/italy-id13006021-053f77b5cacde849dd41223858e5b2a5-e1623105395118.jpg?itok=CCzB01gS\")
<\/picture><\/a><\/em><\/p>\nExpert: 5 Reasons Italy Is Cooling Its Relationship With\u00a0China<\/a><\/strong><\/u><\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/assets.zerohedge.com\/s3fs-public\/styles\/inline_image_mobile\/public\/inline-images\/triesteitaly-1200x800.jpg?itok=dQfXE6s6\")
<\/picture><\/a><\/p>\nItaly Still Influenced by the CCP\u2019s Overseas Propaganda<\/strong><\/u><\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/assets.zerohedge.com\/s3fs-public\/styles\/inline_image_mobile\/public\/inline-images\/GettyImages-120241272-1200x785.jpg?itok=U3hu0o6q\")
<\/picture><\/a><\/p>\nNew Era in EU-China Relations<\/strong><\/u><\/h2>\n