China’s premier surveyed construction of a long-sought bridge over Croatia’s Mali Ston Bay, home to China’s largest infrastructure project in Europe — built by a Chinese company with Chinese workers, and financed in large part by European Union money. A driving rain lashed the hills while the premier, Li Keqiang, was there on Thursday. But, Mr. Li declared, “This bridge will be a rainbow on earth.”
The reassuring language was part of a broader effort to convince increasingly skeptical European nations that China comes in peace. Fresh from a summit meeting with European Union leaders this week, Mr. Li, who as premier is China’s second-highest official after President Xi Jinping, arrived in Croatia for the annual meeting of an economic bloc that China has forged with 16 Central and Eastern European nations.
The reassuring language was part of a broader effort to convince increasingly skeptical European nations that China comes in peace. Fresh from a summit meeting with European Union leaders this week, Mr. Li, who as premier is China’s second-highest official after President Xi Jinping, arrived in Croatia for the annual meeting of an economic bloc that China has forged with 16 Central and Eastern European nations.
