Observing China is the essential newsletter to understand the UK-PRC relationship, explained in the context of global developments.
The ice in the Arctic began to thaw long before the tariff war between the United States (US) and the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The PRC calls itself a ‘near-Arctic state’, a geographically ambitious claim, to justify its attempted inroads into establishing shipping routes and natural gas infrastructure in the region.
Meanwhile, concerns are brewing in Whitehall after a Chinese academic with powerful parliamentary connections is reported to have held strong ties with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) until recently.
A group of British members of parliament (MPs) visited Taiwan this week to maintain strong links with the vibrant democracy. It is a little easier for parliamentarians to maintain individual channels of communication with Taiwanese officials than it is for His Majesty’s (HM) Government, who must be careful not to draw ire from Beijing. But such visits are seldom without reaction from the CCP.
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