Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has pronounced the end of the so-called “golden era” of relations with China in his first foreign policy speech since taking power last month.
In a speech at the Lord Mayor of London’s banquet on Monday (28 November), Sunak said that the “naïve idea” that more trade with the West would lead to Chinese social and political reform had been abandoned, pointing to recent violent crackdowns against journalists and on public protests against COVID-19 lockdowns.
Last year, Beijing imposed sanctions against a group of UK lawmakers who had been leading the campaign for UK sanctions against China over its persecution of Uighur Muslims.
“We recognise China poses a systemic challenge to our values and interests, a challenge that grows more acute as it moves towards even greater authoritarianism,” said Sunak, though he ruled out using tougher language such as describing China as a ‘threat’.
UK relations with China became much warmer during David Cameron’s premiership, with Cameron coining the phrase ‘golden era’ and encouraging bilateral trade and investment.
The move to cool relations with China had been expected and would also have taken place had Liz Truss remained as prime minister, officials said. During the Conservative party leadership race in which he was defeated by Truss, Sunak said China was “the biggest-long term threat to Britain and the world’s economic and national security”.
Source: euractiv.com
