People
buy fruit and vegetables at a shop in Naples, Monday, April 27, 2020. Region
Campania allowed cafes and pizzerias to reopen for delivery Monday, as Italy it
is starting to ease its lockdown after a long precautionary closure due to the
coronavirus outbreak. Andrew
Medichini / AP
“Italy’s problem is the EU turned a blind eye to their
relationship with China.”
– AltNewsMedia
Italy is a story that parallels America’s industrial
Midwest a few decades ago. As China ascended as an export power, joblessness
and despair grew in America’s manufacturing heartland. This self- destruction
festered after decades of liberalized trade polices, over-unionization and
government regulation. This was the recipe for business and investors to export
labor to China, and import their products back into the U.S. These cheap prices
pleased consumers, but killed U.S. manufacturing.
For years, Italians had received a steady diet of
negative agitprop about Chinese products. They had been convinced cheap imports
from China were inferior knock-offs of “made in Italy” products. Beyond
national pride, consumers were told their jobs were at stake if they did not
buy everything that was “made in Italy.” But that changed rapidly in 2014,
when, Matteo Renzi, the leader of the Partito Democratico (Italian Communist party),
was questionably elected Italy’s new prime minister.
Shortly after he took office, banks started failing,
unemployment spiked, and the VAT tax rose from 18% to 22%. There was economic
chaos in Italy. Italian business owners were desperate for cash and Renzi
romanced the Chinese fiscal invasion of Italy. They started buying everything
that wasn’t tied down! And this was done in violation of the EU Trade Pacts
with the U.S. and U.K. Neither President Barack Obama nor Prime Minister David
Cameron of the U.K. said a word as they watched Chinese investors rape and
pillage the nation of Italy.
"You might not see the evil, but you can see its
handiwork.”
By the time Renzi left office in 2016, China owned over
300 companies and 27% of Italy’s industry. The Bank of China owned five major
banks that funneled Italy’s wealth to China. Today according to Bloomberg, they
own Telecom Italy’s largest communication network and major utilities ENI and
ENEL. They are the majority owner of Fiat-Chrysler, Prysmian, Terna, and of
Pirelli tires. But it was purchasing Italy’s world famous fashion industry
factories that topped their pizzas with chow mien.
For centuries, Prato, the medieval city outside of
Florence, produced the world’s finest fabrics. But Prato, feeling the economic
pinch, needed an influx of capital, and China waltzed in and bought up every
major Northern Italian garment maker. They now own Miss Sixty, Pinco Pallino,
Roberta di Camerino, Sergio Tacchini, and the Mariella Burani brands. And that’s
what brought thousands of legal and illegal Chinese immigrants, from Wuhan and
Wenzhou, China to work in Prato factories.
Over night, northern Italy’s textile hub was transformed
into the low-end garment producing capital of the world. Today, the city is
home to the largest concentration of Chinese in Europe. In the heart of
Tuscany, Florence the laborers work round the clock in garment factories making
clothes, shoes and accessories with materials imported from China – sold to
low-end retailers all around the globe.
“The Chinese have blurred the line between 'Made in
China' and 'Made in Italy.'”
– Andrea Frattani
By now, thousands of Chinese had migrated into Italy
illegally and quietly vanished into the shadows of Milano and other cities of
Lombardy. Others came to steal technology and shuttle it to China. It was not
until Matteo Salvini, representing the Lega Nord party, a conservative party
from the north, that the sweatshops and the illegal entry and departure of
Chinese were stopped. Salvini closed Italy’s ports to immigrants and started
deporting illegal immigrants. And that was his demise. The communists swiftly
impeached Salvini to cut their losses, and compromised to support the unproven
Giuseppe Conte.
In January 2020, the first two cases of COVID-19 were
recorded in Rome by travelers from China. Three weeks later, in the northern
province of Lombardy, a garment factory worker showed up at a hospital with
respiratory problems. He was not tested for coronavirus for 36 hours. During
that time, he visited with friends and family.” The Feb 19 incident raises
obvious questions: Why wasn’t this a red flag for Lombardy physicians? They
knew two Chinese tourists had been diagnosed in Rome? Could it be they were
influenced by mafia garment bosses to keep a lid on this? Or was it stupidity?
Since it is customary for the Chinese to travel back to
China for the Lunar New Year celebrations which fell on Jan. 24, and the
incubation period for coronavirus is about two weeks, this is more than a red
flag. With the multitudes of Chinese factory laborers in northern Italy
traveling to China in late January (mostly to Wuhan and Wenzhou) and returning
to Italy, it is not rocket science to conclude many of them returned to Italy
without symptoms. But they were infected with the virus in early or mid
February.
“Never underestimate the power of human stupidity.”
– Robert A. Heinlein
By mid-February, a multitude of coronavirus cases were
being reported in Lombardy from factory workers that lived in segregated
Chinese neighborhoods. By the end of February new cases were being recorded
throughout the region. This vast number of virus patients seriously overloaded
the Lombardy hospitals and medical clinics. Their state medical system was
collapsing because it was caring for the thousands of illegal immigrants
brought in to work in Prato’s garment factories. Italian medical officials
finally admitted there were no doubts, and reluctantly revealed this virus came
from China.
This virus spread so rapidly because of travel to and
from China, and lack of testing and isolation. Additionally, the Italian
socialized medical system was vastly under-funded since they have no clue how
many illegal immigrants were/are in the country. When COVID-19 hit, it broke a
broken system. It was so widespread, tourists and businessmen returning to
China from Italy were bringing it back to China.
“There is a virtuous cycle to transparency and a very
vicious cycle of obfuscation.”
– Jeff Weiner
Specialist Dr. Marizio Pecconi, said, “Our low investment
in public healthcare led to our downfall.” Although no reports indicate how
many virus patients are Chinese, Lombardy, Italy’s worst-affected area, has the
largest concentration of Chinese in Europe. World Health Organization figures
as of the end of March recorded the death rate at 11%. While in China, the
second hardest hit nation, it was 4%. Israel who has the toughest immigration
laws in the world, has the lowest death rate at only 0.35%.
America must learn from Italy’s experience, especially
during an election and a Census year. Any candidate that pitches Medicare for
All, socialized medicine, student loan forgiveness, or expanding social
entitlement programs, gun control, or relaxing immigration laws, run far away
from them! We pay for these with our taxes and our liberty. It’s also vital to
know how many people live in America, legally and illegally, so we have the
medical facilities to treat everyone if another crisis breaks out. Immigrants, both
legal and illegal, can infect anyone, and then everyone can infect everyone
else.
Italy lost control of their nation one bad law and one
bad election at a time. Let’s all hope we never forget that.
“This should hopefully be a warning to Americans while they
work to rid themselves of the China Virus, they should just as vehemently
endeavor to rid their government of every politician that circumvents the
Constitution and ignores their laws … plain and simple.”
– Giacomino Nicolazzo
By William
Haupt III | Contributing Columnist William Haupt III is a retired
professional journalist, author, and citizen legislator in California for over
40 years. He got his start working to approve California Proposition 13.
