It used to be said that political parties were Eurosceptic in opposition, but Europhile in government. The same perhaps could now be said of China. Back in July, Rishi Sunak was keen to talk tough on the Beijing behemoth, which he called Britain’s ‘biggest long-term threat’. He tweeted that ‘China and the Chinese Communist party represent the largest threat to Britain and the world’s security and prosperity this century’. And Sunak also accused China of ‘stealing our technology and infiltrating our universities’ in one punchy attack:
Abroad, they are propping up Putin’s fascist invasion of Ukraine by buying his oil and attempting to bully their neighbours, including Taiwan. They are saddling developing countries with insurmountable debt and using this to seize their assets or hold a diplomatic gun to their heads. They torture, detain and indoctrinate their own people, including in Xinjiang and Hong Kong, in contravention of their human rights. And they have continually rigged the global economy in their favour by suppressing their currency.
Yet now such talk has now been significantly watered down. Arriving in Bali for the G20 yesterday, Sunak hinted he will abandon plans to declare China a ‘threat’ to national security as part of a major review of British foreign policy. Speaking to reporters traveling with him, he twice refused to back his predecessor Liz Truss’ plans to elevate China’s status to that of a ‘threat’ in an upcoming refresh of the UK government’s foreign and defence priorities.
Indeed, when asked by Politico reporter Eleni Coureau, Sunak claimed that China poses a ‘systemic threat’ before hastily correcting himself to say ‘systemic challenge’ instead.
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