Britain wants to make an effort to actively cooperate with China, but clearly identify differences and contrasts. British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly devoted the annual foreign policy keynote speech to businessmen in the City of London on Tuesday entirely to British-Chinese relations.

Johannes Leithäuser

Political correspondent for the United Kingdom and Ireland.

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Cleverly said, according to quotes circulated in advance, that it would be "clear, easy – and wrong" to declare a new "cold war" and make the isolation of China the goal of British policy. This would be tantamount to a disregard for British interests and a deliberate error about the nature of the modern world, the Foreign Secretary said. London must work with Beijing to address "humanity's greatest challenges." He cited as an example the fight against climate change or efforts to prevent the transfer of nuclear weapons. However, a "robust" relationship between the two countries also includes the open discussion of differences.

Referring to the recent Chinese military maneuvers in the Taiwan Strait, Cleverly said that "China is currently conducting the largest military build-up in peacetime." He warned Beijing "of the risk of a tragic miscalculation," but left open what British reactions China would face in the event of a military attack on Taiwan. The Foreign Office in London now apparently considers it necessary to openly communicate warnings to Beijing, but to leave one's own reactions vague.

"Robust pragmatism" in relations with China

Cleverly's position follows an update of the British National Security Strategy, which described China as both a system rival and a cooperation partner. The British perception of China has undergone a major change in recent decades. After the return of the Crown Colony of Hong Kong in 1997, the formula of "two systems" in one country initially nurtured the hope that the democratic institutions of the former colony could radiate throughout China.

About a decade later, Prime Minister David Cameron sought to establish China as a market and investment destination for the British economy, proclaiming a "golden age" of British-Chinese relations. The violent crackdown on democratic protests in Hong Kong in 2019, China's behaviour in the Covid pandemic and the increasing perception of a security risk by Chinese communications technology companies caused a change of direction in London. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak formally declared the golden age over last year, noting that instead of wishful thinking, "robust pragmatism" must govern relations with China.

In the conservative ruling party, there are voices calling for a much stricter demarcation from China. Former Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith called the Chinese leadership "a brutal, dictatorial, ghostly regime" and recently warned against the persecution of Chinese dissidents in Britain.