How Britain will counter China’s wolf-warrior diplomacy

The most significant and lasting change brought about by Covid is that it has woken the West up to the threat posed by Communist China. The fact that the initial severity of the outbreak was covered up by Chinese Communist party authorities did not surprise western governments. It was Beijing’s ‘wolf warrior diplomacy’ as the virus raged round the globe that made them grasp the true nature of President Xi’s China.

In March, the UK government was taken aback by the extreme misinformation promoted by the CCP to try to suggest that the US military was somehow to blame for the emergence of the virus. The shortages of personal protective equipment reminded western governments how reliant they had become on Chinese manufacturing and also highlighted the difference between dealing with China and dealing with companies in democratic countries: ministers hesitated to criticise the CCP for fear that the next plane loaded with PPE wouldn’t take off. This was a valid concern. When Australia suggested that there should be an independent inquiry into the origins of the virus, Beijing aggressively slapped tariffs on its goods. The CCP’s behaviour shows that if you develop a close economic relationship with China, it will be used to ‘bully you politically’, as one well-placed British government source puts it.

All this has led to a shift in UK government policy. At the start of the 2010s, David Cameron and George Osborne wanted the UK to be China’s best friend in the West. Their approach was inherited by Theresa May and, at first, Boris Johnson. At the start of this year, the country was still on track to have Huawei, a Chinese firm with close links to the People’s Liberation Army, play a key role in the building of its 5G mobile phone network. This policy is now changing, thanks to pressure from both the United States and Tory backbenchers.