London: Britain’s latest Prime Minister Rishi Sunak says he will engage China with “robust pragmatism” and that an evolutionary leap is needed in the West’s approach toward the authoritarian superpower which poses a “challenge to our values and interests”.
Giving his first major foreign policy speech since entering politics in 2015 and becoming prime minister last month, Sunak told dignitaries and VIPs attending the London Lord Mayor’s banquet at Guildhall that a Cold War mentality and sentimentality about the past must be done away with in favour of an “evolutionary leap”.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak at the Lord Mayor’s Banquet at The Guildhall in London. Credit:Getty
“It means standing up to our competitors, not with grand rhetoric but with robust pragmatism,” he said.
“We will do all this not only through our diplomatic expertise, science and tech leadership, and investment in defence and security, but by dramatically increasing the quality and depth of our partnerships with like-minded countries around the world,” he said.
But he said Britain’s evolutionary leap had already begun, in Ukraine. Britain was also repositioning on China and deepening its partnerships in the Indo-Pacific.
“Let’s be clear, the so-called ‘golden era’ is over, along with the naïve idea that trade would lead to social and political reform,” he said.
“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.”
He said this was most recently shown with China’s crack-down on protesters and the assault of BBC journalist Ed Lawrence over the weekend, who was detained and beaten while reporting on the anti-COVID zero and anti-Xi protests in Shanghai, China.
“Instead of listening to their people’s protests, the Chinese Government has chosen to crack down further, including by assaulting a BBC journalist,” Sunak said.
But Sunak said China’s significance to world affairs, including economic stability and climate change, could not be ignored either.
“The US, Canada, Australia, Japan and many others understand this too,” he said.
“So together we’ll manage this sharpening competition, including with diplomacy and engagement.”
He said this meant improving the collective economic security, contributing to his decision earlier this month to block the sale of a British silicon chip factory which was taken over by the global semiconductor firm Nexperia.
While Nexperia is headquartered in the Netherlands, it’s parent company Wingtech is Shanghai-based and aims to become the world’s “preferred supplier for semiconductors”.
Sunak’s foreign policy thinking is lesser known, having been propelled to the UK’s top job in just seven years.
While chancellors traditionally favour stronger economic ties with China, prime ministers have come under increasing pressure in the past years to harden the UK’s stance towards Xi Jinping’s increased authoritarianism.
The party has an influential hawkish wing who advocate that Britain should use it’s post-Brexit stance to pursue a more global approach and increase the security and economic relationships with middle powers like Australia and Korea.
Sunak visited Ukraine’s President Volodmyr Zelensky ten days ago, his first trip to the war zone since becoming prime minister.
“As the world comes together to watch the World Cup, I saw how an explosive device had been hidden inside a child’s football – seeking to make it a weapon of war. It defies belief,” he said.
He said Britain would stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes and potentially increase its military aid in the new year.
He said the Wests’ unity demonstrated against Vladimir Putin showed that democracies were not faltering and weak, as some suggested the shambolic exit from Afghanistan had exposed.
“Sweden and Finland are joining NATO. Germany is increasing its defence spending. Partners as far afield as Australia, Japan and South Korea are standing with us,” he said.
He reiterated that he would not preside over any realignment with the rules of the common market, the issue that has dominated the Tory government since the vote to leave the EU in 2016.
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