Tory backlash over ‘appeasement’ of China
RISHI Sunak faces a backlash from Tory MPs over a drift towards appeasement of China. He is today seeing Xi Jinping – the first PM to meet China’s President in five years. In the Tory leader contest Mr Sunak had said “for too long politicians in Britain have rolled out the red carpet” to the Communist regime, adding: “I think I’ll face down China, it is our number one threat.” But he pushed for this meeting on the margins of the G20, to ease tensions with Beijing. The PM sidestepped questions about if he was “going soft” on China but said the nation “represents a systemic challenge to our values”. Seven MPs and peers were sanctioned by Beijing for speaking out against the regime. Ex-Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith, one of the MPs, said: “I am worried that the present Prime Minister, when he meets Xi Jinping, will be perceived as weak because it now looks like we’re drifting into appeasement with China, which is a disaster as it was in the 1930s [with Nazi Germany].
“If we don’t have them down as a strategic threat, then nothing gets done on the everpressing threat that they pose. They’re a threat to our values, they’re a threat to economic stability, they’re a threat to us because of their failure to cooperate... early on that led to Covid spreading.” Sir Iain, co-chairman of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, added: “They only understand strength and strength of purpose.”
David Cameron welcomed a “golden era” of relations between Britain and China while PM, and gave President Xi a state visit in 2015 but recent links have been frozen. China stands accused of “serious human rights violations” over treatment of Uyghur Muslims – MPs voted to call it “genocide”.
And then-PM Boris Johnson acted against China giant Huawei when critics said Beijing could make the firm spy on people via “back doors” in its telecoms equipment. Bob Seely,
a Tory MP and member of the alliance, said: “Of course we need to be talking, but we cannot normalise relations.
“First, China is being more aggressive towards Taiwan, not less. Second, we are becoming dangerously over-dependent on China for our economic supply chains and third, their human rights abuses are not improving. It is dangerous to normalise relations when they are not normal.” His MP colleague Tim Loughton said: “There is much that the Prime Minister needs to discuss with China but it must be done in a completely frank and honest way.That starts with China understanding that it cannot use the tactics it deploys to suppress its own people in China against those who speak out in theWest.
“The PM needs to call Xi to account for this. Xi should lift the sanctions.”
Alicia Kearns, Chair of the Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee, welcomed Mr Sunak’s meeting with President Xi: “It is important they meet to prevent miscalculations. We cannot simply cut off China, we must work to create the space for dialogue.”
Mr Sunak refused to rule out sending more arms to the independent island state of Taiwan which China claims. He said: “China is undoubtedly the biggest state-based threat to our economic security.”
But he added: “We’re not going to be able to resolve shared global challenges like climate change or public health or indeed actually dealing with Russia and Ukraine, without having a dialogue. Our policy on Taiwan is obviously there should be no unilateral change to the status. We stand ready to support Taiwan as we do in standing up to Chinese aggression.”
President Xi has said that “reunification” with Taiwan “must be fulfilled”.
No 10 said Mr Sunak will raise China’s human rights record today.The PM’s spokesman said: “He’s going to be clear on the need for China and the UK to establish a frank and constructive relationship.”
Meanwhile Mr Sunak said there is a “huge degree of alignment” with the US before his first face-to-face meeting with Joe Biden today.The US President – who met President Xi at the G20 – was publicly critical of his predecessor Liz Truss’s plan to cut taxes in the hope of driving growth.
But the current PM said the US and Britain were working together on issues including energy supplies and Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Mr Sunak yesterday met Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia. Aides declined to say if he had raised human rights abuses in the Gulf state.
A spokesman said: “The Prime Minister said he hoped the UK and Saudi Arabia could continue to work together to stabilise energy markets [and] looked forward to continuing to strengthen the UK-Saudi relationship, noting the importance of further progress on social reforms including on women’s rights and freedoms in the Kingdom.”