Nov 29,2022:British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on Monday (November 28) that the so-called “golden era” of relations with China was over, saying Beijing’s systemic challenge to Britain’s interests and values was growing more acute.
But Sunak stopped short of calling China a threat, disappointing China hawks in his Conservative Party who had until recently expected him to class China as a “threat” to U.K. security as part of an update of the government’s foreign and defense policies.
In his speech to the annual Lord Mayor’s Banquet in London, Sunak said the U.K. would stand up to global competitors like China — “not with grand rhetoric but with robust pragmatism” and by boosting its ties with like-minded global allies including the U.S., Canada, Australia and Japan.
“We recognize China poses a systemic challenge to our values and interests, a challenge that grows more acute as it moves towards even greater authoritarianism,” he said.
Referring to Beijing’s handling of widespread protests across China against the country’s strict “zero COVID” strategy, Sunak said that “instead of listening to their people’s protests, the Chinese government has chosen to crack down further, including by assaulting a BBC journalist.”
