Former British Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak, the leading candidate to replace Boris Johnson as Prime Minister (PM) and the leader of the Conservative party, has refuted rival Liz Truss’ accusations of being too “soft” on China by vowing to take a tough stance against the “biggest long-term threat to Britain and the world’s economic and national security.”
In a thread posted on Twitter yesterday, Sunak announced that he would shut down all 30 Confucius Institutes in the United Kingdom (UK), which he said “promote Chinese soft power.”
He also pledged to form a new international alliance of “Free nations” to confront Chinese cybercrimes, though it is unclear how this would differ from the existing Five Eyes alliance comprising the UK, the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
2/ I would close all 30 of China’s Confucius Institutes in the UK - the highest number in the world.
— Rishi Sunak (@RishiSunak) July 25, 2022
Almost all UK government spending on Mandarin language teaching at school is channelled through university-based Confucius Institutes, thereby promoting Chinese soft power. pic.twitter.com/RAWf0WsKRS
Next, the former chancellor said he would “expand” British intelligence agency MI5’s “reach” to ensure greater protection to British businesses and universities against Chinese “industrial espionage” in order to safeguard intellectual property.
Lastly, Sunak said he would “prevent Chinese acquisitions of key British assets, including strategically sensitive tech firms.”
This Twitter announcement came shortly after he declared the previous day: “Enough is enough. For too long, politicians in Britain and across the West have rolled out the red carpet and turned a blind eye to China’s nefarious activity and ambitions.”
5/ I will protect key British assets.
— Rishi Sunak (@RishiSunak) July 25, 2022
That means examining the need to prevent Chinese acquisitions of key British assets including strategically sensitive tech firms. pic.twitter.com/duEBJ9zj0a
He added, “At home, they are stealing our technology and infiltrating our universities,” noting that he would require universities to disclose all foreign funding above $60,000. The former chancellor said this would effectively “kick the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) out of our universities.” He also criticised Truss in this regard, saying nine of the 31 Confucius institutes in the country were established when she was the education minister between 2012 and 2014.
The frontrunner went on to say: “And abroad, they are propping up Putin’s fascist invasion of Ukraine by buying his oil and attempting to bully their neighbours, including Taiwan.”
Sunak also accused China of practicing ‘debt-trap diplomacy’ with developing countries by “saddling [them] with insurmountable debt and using this to seize their assets or hold a diplomatic gun to their heads.”
People watching the election in this country are looking for solutions to the crises the UK faces, but instead, what they get is a China-bashing and China-smearing show that only exposes the incompetence of the politicians.
— Chinese Embassy in UK (@ChineseEmbinUK) July 25, 2022
He also took aim at China’s rights abuses Xinjiang and Hong Kong, saying it “tortures, detains, and indoctrinates” its own citizens.
On the economic front, he denounced Beijing’s currency manipulation, which he said has “rigged the global economy in their favour.”
Sunak’s stinging riposte to China came shortly after Truss’ team accused him of being “soft” on China by pointing out that he intended to resume the Economic and Financial Dialogue and Joint Economic Trade and Cooperation summits with China, which had been put on hold in July 2020 after China tightened control over Hong Kong.
A spokesperson for Truss said that as foreign secretary, Truss had “strengthened Britain’s position on China” and “helped lead the international response to increased Chinese aggression,” which she would continue if she became PM.
Here's the China segment from the #BBCOurNextPM debate just now.
— Sam (@EditorBTB) July 25, 2022
We've got Truss and TikTok, Sunak saying he agrees with MI5's China view, and multiple references to the Golden Era.
Sign up for entire transcript: https://t.co/PmhgSCkGc8 pic.twitter.com/3axgFoYDAa
These divisions between Sunak and Truss became more apparent during their debate on Monday night, when Sunak said Truss has previously spoken of the need to usher in a “golden era” in ties with China through collaboration in the food and technology sectors.
In response, Truss said that Sunak had consistently pushed for “closer economic relations” with China while he was the chancellor, contrasting that with how she as Foreign Secretary took the “toughest stance” on Beijing.
In this regard, she also highlighted the need to “crack down” on Chinese-owned companies such as TikTok and also “limiting the amount of technology exports we do to authoritarian regimes.”
Truss also emphasised on the need to ensure that Taiwan can protect itself, reiterating her recent warning to China to “play by the rules.” She has also called for the G7 to become an “economic NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization)” against China.
Her remarks about Sunak being “soft” on China are also a reference to a recent article published by Chinese state-owned media Global Times (GT) that described Sunak as the only candidate with a “clear and pragmatic view on developing UK-China ties,” referring to him as “the new British prime minister,” GT cited Chinese experts as saying that while Sunak would not “make big changes to the current foreign policy,” there is “a chance” that he would help “the UK to fix ties with China and maximise its advantages to prevent an economic downturn.”
The GT article validated its claim by referring to Sunak’s tenure as chancellor, during which, “he used his annual Mansion House speech to insist that Britain should beef up its trading relationship with China while admitting that efforts to reopen direct access to EU financial services markets had failed.”
We urge UK politicians not to keep making unwarranted remarks about China. pic.twitter.com/3AS52kKTEe
— Spokesperson发言人办公室 (@MFA_China) July 25, 2022
However, following Sunak’s hardening of stance against Beijing, the media house more recently said that “Rishi Sunak, the candidate who is perceived to support a balanced policy, is also making tough comments.” Chinese analysts retorted that “the act of hyping the “China threat” remains one of the best options” for “incompetent politicians” to help “cover up their failures in pushing effective reform to solve domestic problems, even though they know China has nothing to do with their internal messes, and especially their economic problems, that their voters care about most.”
Echoing the sentiment, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said during his regular press conference on Monday that “certain British politicians that making irresponsible remarks about China, including hyping up so-called “China threat,” cannot solve one’s own problems.”
“My advice to the British politicians is that, instead of offering solutions to the UK’s problems, these irresponsible moves such as smearing China at every turn and clamouring for tougher stance against China will only further lead the country astray,” added a spokesperson for China’s embassy in the UK.
Under the Johnson administration, the UK took various steps to toughen it stance on China, including: introducing a new law to reduce Chinese acquisition of British businesses, opening the door to nearly three million people fleeing Hong Kong over the imposition of the national security law; banning Chinese telecommunications company Huawei from the UK’s 5G network; slashing aid to China by 95%; joining the AUKUS partnership with the United States (US) and Australia; and voicing concerns about human rights abuses in Hong Kong, Xinjiang, and Tibet.
In this respect, the perceived differences in how the two final candidates will approach China could be crucial in determining the UK’s next leader.