Italy denies China’s claims of easing coronavirus flight ban

Italy’s “coronavirus task force” swiftly denied suggestions on Friday that a week-old ban on flights to and from China had been relaxed, as thousands of stranded Chinese tourists scrambled to book new seats home.

The denial came after Beijing said Italian ambassador to China Luca Ferrari had agreed flights would resume.

Observers said the confusion reflected infighting at the top of Italy’s coalition government and further backtracking on Rome’s previously cordial approach towards Beijing.

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte first announced a complete suspension of flights between Italy and China on January 30, following confirmation of two coronavirus cases in Italy.

Multiple government sources said Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio had been “kept in the dark” and was “shocked” by the decision.

Beijing initially did not respond publicly but on Friday deputy foreign minister Qin Gang met Ferrari, urging Italy to “actively respond to China’s urgent and reasonable concerns”, and “cancel the decision to suspend flights as soon as possible”.

“[Italy’s] unilateral decision to stop flights without previously contacting China has resulted in great inconvenience to travellers from both countries, and many Chinese citizens are still stranded in Italy,” state news agency Xinhua quoted Qin as saying.

Beijing then said it had secured Ferrari’s consent to resume flights. But the Italian task force, a panel of health experts answerable to Conte, said there had been no change to the flight ban, the first imposed by a European Union country.

Di Maio later confirmed that the suspension had not been lifted.

“The block on flights is a measure that we have taken to immediately deal with an emergency, and we will keep it in place as long as health authorities and therefore the science community tell us that we should,” he said.

The ban on flights would make it hard for Beijing to work too closely with Italy in future, an EU diplomatic source said on condition of anonymity.

Observers said the inconsistent approach to China reflected the fragility of Italy’s coalition government led by the politically unaffiliated Conte, comprising the Five Star Movement led by Di Maio and the Democratic Party.

Lucrezia Poggetti, an expert on Italian politics at the Mercator Institute for China Studies, said a broader shift in policy to China was also under way.

“Some observers analyse Italy’s decision as another signal of the Italian government backtracking on cooperation with China after last year’s signature of the belt and road memorandum of understanding [with China],” Poggetti said, referring to Beijing’s massive international infrastructure and trade drive.

The signing was initiated by Di Maio when he was deputy prime minister and attracted disapproval from the United States.

Since his re-election in September, Conte had employed “toughening rhetoric” on China’s developing country status in the World Trade Organisation, Italy had cancelled space cooperation projects, and the Italian parliament had passed a resolution on Hong Kong, Poggetti said.

The Italian parliament also invited student leader Joshua Wong Chi-fung to speak in support of the resolution, attracting a fierce response from Chinese diplomats in Rome.

Conte also offered personal assurance to US President Donald Trump not to include Chinese tech giant Huawei in Italy’s next-generation 5G mobile infrastructure, according to Trump. Conte later denied raising this issue during a December meeting with the US president.