Of course, any time that I open my mouth or I write something, they say, ‘Look, Prodi is coming back.’ But, you know, I cannot commit suicide
but it is a trend that we know well. Te difference in Prato is that you have not only an economic problem, but a social clash, and this can be solved only with a dialogue and with new styles of coop- eration that are difficult for political reasons. Some Italian politicians are very capable of exploiting the existing situa- tion to gain votes, and use “anti-Chinese” sentiment as a route to power. In Prato [this sentiment] was so strong that it has changed the local government, which had always been left-leaning, but now it is right-leaning, and the only issue in the election was the problem of Chinese immigration.
Q A
: How does China change the dy- namic by coming in and purchasing
bonds and making statements publicly that have direct effects on confidence in the euro?
: I started the dialogue between China and the EU when I was
president of the European Commission.
Te Chinese have always been very posi- tive vis-à-vis the EU. Tey always found it convenient for China to have a new protagonist in the world – one as strong as the EU and different from the US. I remember my dialogues with President Hu Jintao when the euro was shaping and the Chinese position was very clear: “We like the euro because we like to live in a world in which there is not only one power and one currency, but rather, a pluralistic number of protagonists. Te euro and Europe are good for us.” I know the Chinese have been a little dis- appointed by the subsequent weakness of European policy. Europe in theory is a new protagonist in the world, but really, the internal divisions are so deep that we have, in too many cases, no common European policy. We are still number one in GNP, in industrial production and number one in exports, but we don’t exist. Trade is the only case where the power resides in the European institu- tion and not in the single countries at present.
Q A
: Tere is a theory that China has an advantage in terms of its foreign
policy, of not having to respond to voters. Now you yourself have had some diffi- culty with governing coalitions, in terms of implementing foreign policy –
: [laughing] I am a symbol of these problems. But you know if we don’t
make progress we shall progressively lose any possibility of influencing the world. For example, I worked for peacekeep- ing in Africa, and I am interested in African countries. Clearly you have a French policy targeted at the Franco- phone countries, a British policy targeted toward their old friends, and an Ameri- can policy targeted only to the west coast and a few other countries. Te only global policy is that of the Chinese – the only one! You know, you have a biased situation, in which China has a global policy and all the European countries have different policies. During the G8 in Germany a few years ago, the president of Senegal [Abdoulaye Wade] told me that more conclusions were reached with China during that time than had happened in four years [with Western countries]. Tis is a strategic advantage and I cannot deny it. Tis is why I am so adamant and so insistent on the necessity of European cooperation and European unity.
Q A
: Are you optimistic about how the current EU administration is dealing
with China?
: No, I’m not optimistic for the short term. I think it will be difficult to
get any agreements in the G20. When you have such a movement in real terms, it is difficult to find a common view. In my view, we still have the problem of long-term discussions. Why am I saying that? Take G8 and G20. Everybody was in agreement that the G8 was over as an institution, that we had to represent all the world. So in the last meeting no strong decision was taken and even the decisions taken were not implemented. Te new body, the G20, was working well in the first meeting, but because of the global financial crisis everybody was afraid, and its power has decreased. If you have no permanent structure that continues to digest the problems, it will be difficult to take a serious long-lasting decision in meetings that happen once per year.
Q A
: Tere was an article in Te Econo- mist that insinuated that while you
were the president of the EC you spent your last year scheming a return into Italian politics. Do you have any plans to return to politics now, or are you happily retired?
: I have no intention of doing that. When I was in Brussels, people were
telling me always that I was thinking to get back into [Italian] politics, and it was absolutely not the case. You know, I spent the majority of my life outside of Italy. It is not by chance, I tell you, it is not by chance. I teach in China, I teach in the US I don’t take any political action, because my political life ended with a non-confidence vote of the parlia- ment. Of course, any time that I open my mouth or I write something, they say, “Look, Prodi is coming back.” But, you know, I cannot commit suicide. I am a professor, I am a commentator, I regularly write articles, this is my amuse- ment, and teaching is my job. Of course, if you ask me, am I happy with what is happening in my country? I tell you that I am desperate. Tis is, if you want, my comment. I think that we never had such a horrible opinion coming from almost the unanimity of all the international observers, and it is difficult for me to think that they are all wrong.
China Economic Review • May 2011 21
Imaginechina
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