The decision to join the Silk Road multiplied China’s exports to Italy but did not have the same effect on Italian exports to China, Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said. “The issue today is: how to walk back [from the BRI] without damaging relations [with Beijing], because it is true that China is a competitor, but it is also a partner,” Crosetto added. Italy signed up to the BRI under a previous government, becoming the only major Western country to have taken such a step.
And you’re assuming they’re all bad faith actors. While some will most certainly have been, I doubt every single instance of countries signing on to the BRI was done in bad faith.
Not every BRI deal is a bad deal tho either.
China will screw you over but if a country is able to they can get a mutually beneficial deal. Italy should be one of such countries.