UK is ‘operating in the dark’ on China, says British MP

Beijing unveils its interests in Ukraine’s defeat; German aircraft reportedly targeted by Chinese warship

Observing China is the essential newsletter to understand the UK-PRC relationship, explained in the context of global developments.

This image was generated using Artificial Intelligence.

We were extremely proud to see that Isabel Hilton, a member of the China Observatory’s Advisory Council, was recently appointed as the new Chair of the Great Britain China Centre (GBCC) – an arms-length body of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) established to support bilateral relations between the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the United Kingdom (UK).

The GBCC is a principal facilitator of inter-governmental dialogue between His Majesty’s (HM) Government and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and since 1974 has walked the political tightrope of fostering communication in the UK’s ‘most complex bilateral relationship’.

With five decades of China-watching experience – and an Order of the British Empire (OBE) to show for it – Ms Hilton has the trust and credibility from both Whitehall and Zhongnanhai to assume this prestigious role.

In other news, I imagine many of you also felt the whiplash of Wang Yi, Foreign Minister to the PRC, revealing rather brazenly that it is not in Beijing’s interest for Russia to lose in its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion in February 2022, Beijing has claimed neutrality, and it is uncommon for the CCP to be so direct on foreign policy (apart from the ‘Taiwan issue’).

With this in mind, where does Whitehall go from here?

Welcome back to Observing China.