Silk roads

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras' presence at the Belt and Road Initiative Forum in Beijing Friday and Saturday, in addition to Greece's joining the initiative of 16 countries of Eastern and Southeastern countries with strong relations with China, shows how far Greece has come since 2009. That was when China's state-owned Cosco took over part of Piraeus's container port. That initiative by a New Democracy government was opposed bitterly by other parties and vested interests. However, despite the obstacles that they set up, PASOK and SYRIZA contributed toward a closer relationship with China.

Relations may be strengthening but nothing is simple. We see this in the proposed development of the port of Piraeus after Cosco bought a 51 percent stake in it in August 2016. The Chinese Embassy is concerned that the investment may be affected by the recent ruling of the Central...

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