The UK doesn’t have a China strategy. We have not had one since George Osborne declared a ‘golden era’ of Sino-British relations on a trip to Beijing in 2015. In hindsight, Osborne’s ‘era’ looks more like an ‘error’.
Yet, Covid-19 makes clear that the UK needs to adopt one. The death and destruction caused by the coronavirus are partly a result of the bullying and lies that characterised the Chinese Communist Party’s efforts to cover up the initial outbreak. Not only has China sought to dodge the blame for the pandemic, but it has also sought to take credit for dealing with it. Throughout Western capitals, long overdue assessments are now taking place about how to deal with China.
Such a strategy will have to be multi-faceted. It will need to take into account China’s full-spectrum approach to foreign policy, in which it combines economic coercion, military sabre-rattling, a mammoth state-sponsored media empire, and cohorts of witting and unwitting accomplices.
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