Italy and Iran have been two of the countries hardest hit by the
Wuhan coronavirus, outside of China. Why? Helen Raleigh explains at The Federalist:
The reason these two countries are suffering the most outside
China is mainly due to their close ties with Beijing, primarily through the
“One Belt and One Road” (OBOR) initiative.
OBOR is Beijing’s foreign policy play disguised as
infrastructure investment. Here’s how it works: China and country X agree to do
an infrastructure project in country X. Country X has to borrow from a Chinese
bank to finance the project. A contract is always awarded to Chinese companies,
which then bring supplies and Chinese employees to country X to build the
project.
Almost exactly a year ago in March 2019, against warnings from
the EU and the United States, Italy became the first and only G7 country to
sign onto OBOR. As part of the deal, Italy opened an array of sectors to
Chinese investment, from infrastructure to transportation, including letting
Chinese state-owned companies hold a stake in four major Italian ports. …
Lombardy and Tuscany are the two regions that saw the most
Chinese investment. Nearly a year later, the first Wuhan coronavirus infection
case in Italy was reported in the Lombardy region on Feb. 21. Today, Italy is
experiencing the worst coronavirus outbreak outside China, and Lombardy is the
hardest-hit region in the country.
The Iran case is interesting as well:
2019 was the year Iran officially signed up to OBOR. China sees
Iran as a crucial player to this initiative because Iran is not only rich in
oil but also lies in a direct path of an ambitious 2,000-mile railroad China
wants to build, which will run from western China through Tehran and Turkey
into Europe.
Today, Iranian health officials trace the country’s coronavirus
outbreak to Qom, a city of a million people. According to the Wall Street
Journal, “China Railway Engineering Corp. is building a $2.7 billion high-speed
rail line through Qom. Chinese technicians have been helping refurbish a
nuclear-power plant nearby.” Iranian medical professionals suspect either
Chinese workers in Qom or an Iranian businessman who travelled to China from
Qom caused the spread of the coronavirus in Qom.
News reports indicate that a number of high Iranian officials
have contracted coronavirus, and I believe at least one or two have died.
Raleigh explains:
Although on Feb. 1 the Iranian government banned its airlines
from flying to China, it made an exception for Mahan Air, an unofficial airline
for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The WSJ reported that Mahan Air “had carried out eight flights
between Tehran and China between Feb. 1 and Feb. 9 to transfer Chinese and
Iranian passengers to their respective home countries.” This explains why so
many high-level Iranian officials are infected by the coronavirus, including
First Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri and more than 20 lawmakers.
Relying on China for economic development was never a good idea,
but it turned out to be more dangerous than we knew.
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