Observing China is the essential newsletter to understand the UK-PRC relationship, explained in the context of global developments.
The United Kingdom (UK) is back to going around in circles over its ‘China policy’. Parliamentarians are calling for a coherent strategy in Whitehall’s dealings with Beijing, accusing His Majesty’s (HM) Government of ‘making up its China policy as it goes on’.
But can Britain have one unitary policy for a country that intelligence services repeatedly warn could be plotting cyber attacks against it? A country that appears to be an indispensable trade partner for the UK’s Clean Power 2030 target, alongside its long-held status as one of the largest sources of overseas students propping up the British higher education sector?
Andy Burnham, Prime Minister, has not yet set out his position on the UK’s relations with the People’s Republic of China (PRC). However, his Cabinet ministers are already working on the foundations on which his administration’s ‘China policy’ may be built.
Jonathan Reynolds, Secretary of State for Business and Trade, has not ruled out following Brussels’ suit in applying tariffs on Electric Vehicles (EVs) made in the PRC. However, he remained firm that should Britain do so, it would only be in the pursuit of its own interests – not to placate any third party.
Perhaps Whitehall is waiting to see to what extent its policies on the PRC may be shaped by its rapprochement in certain areas with Brussels. After all, Liam Byrne, Chair of the House of Commons Business and Trade Select Committee, stated that ‘Britain must shape its own relationship with China, or risk having that relationship shaped for us in Washington or Beijing.’
Last year, Brussels expressed a similar idea that it must develop its own ‘strategic autonomy’ in the face of growing rivalry between Beijing and Washington.
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