Geopolitical constraints on China’s soft power: A framing analysis of the Belt and Road Initiative coverage in Italian news media

This article examines the framing of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in Italian news media between 2017 and 2023, a period that captures Italy’s full trajectory of engagement with the initiative: from early optimism and eventual participation to disillusionment and withdrawal. Italy occupies an exceptional position: it was the first and only G7 country to sign a BRI Memorandum of Understanding in 2019 despite longstanding Western alignments, and the first country to officially terminate its participation. Drawing on a soft-power perspective, the study shows that Italian coverage was initially favourable, presenting the BRI as an economic opportunity. Over time, however, economic coverage receded as the dominant interpretive frame moved toward security, strategic rivalry, and concerns over China’s political intentions. While existing research on BRI news coverage has focused largely on Global South contexts, Western cases shaped by entrenched alliance structures remain understudied. The Italian case demonstrates that China’s soft-power appeal is conditioned by geopolitical alignments and media discourse: attraction and strategic positioning coexist, and frequently collide, within the communicative environments where narratives are produced and contested.