US ‘ biggest influence’ in souring China- UK bilateral ties: observers

From Golden Age partner to a vanguard that attacks China on various fronts, the US factor is the biggest influence behind the freezing China- UK ties, said Chinese observers. They pointed out that London is striving to stand up in the contest between Beijing and Washington, but such opportunistic diplomatic tricks will backfire.

The most recent attack from the UK came when London, at a regular session of the UN Human Rights Council on Monday, called for the UN to be given “urgent and unfettered” access to Northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region to investigate so- called abuses in this region.

The bilateral ties have spiraled downward since the UK decided to issue special five- year visas and a pathway to full British citizenship to BNO passport holders and their dependents, a move repeatedly slammed by China as “interfering in domestic affairs.” China has said that it will not recognize the BNO as a valid travel and ID document.

Just a few years ago, relations between the UK and China were said to be in a golden age. Chinese observers attributed the UK’s gradually more hostile attitude toward China to the US.

“The US is the biggest influence,” said Sun Keqin, a research fellow at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations.

Sun said that after Brexit, the UK is eyeing diversified diplomatic tactics to fit its interests. US President Joe Biden, who seems to differ from his predecessor’s “choose one or the other” policy, offers more goodwill and promise to its old allies. So the UK believes that standing closer to Washington is the optimal choice for it right now.

To prove its value to the US, the UK feels the need to act as the most vocal one to confront China, said Cui Hongjian, director of the Department of European Studies, China Institute of International Studies, noting that London also still views itself as an “empire on which the sun never sets” who sees involving in contest between world’s two superpowers, China and the US, as something that suit its international status.

Yet observers noted that being hawkish on China is not the real intention of the UK, which advocates pragmatic diplomacy. “London is hardening its stance now, but at the same time, London is sending certain goodwill signals,” said Sun.

Observers are optimistic that bilateral ties won’t recede fully or even melt down, citing economic cooperation as a stabilizer.