Tory Hawks Accuse Sunak Of Weakness Over China Policy

Rishi Sunak has been accused by senior Tories of kowtowing” to China as he defied calls to reclassify Beijing as a systemic threat to Britain.

- Adam Forrest

The PM defended his policy of continuing to engage with China, despite believing that Xi Jinping’s “increasingly authoritarian” regime poses an epoch-defining challenge” to the global order.

But Mr Sunak sparked a row with China hawks in his party, who agree with his predecessor Liz Truss that the country should have been redesignated a threat. The government’s updated blueprint for foreign and defence policy, revealed yesterday, states that the UK is committed to swift and robust action” to counter any threat from China but does not label the state a threat in itself.

The so-called Integrated Review document says that China under Communist Party rule represents a systemic challenge” to almost every aspect of British government policy and to the everyday lives of British citizens. While the UK will continue to seek to engage constructively” with the regime, the document warns that this will become increasingly difficult if Beijing continues its trend towards greater authoritarianism and assertiveness”.

Ms Truss was expected to designate China a threat” to national security. Mr Sunak claimed during the Tory leadership contest that China represents the biggest long-term threat to Britain”, but has since appeared to soften his stance. Asked while on a trip to the US about his previous comments on China, Mr Sunak told reporters: I don’t think it’s smart or sophisticated foreign policy to reduce our relationship with China to just two words.”