‘GOLDEN ERA’ OF TIES WITH CHINA OVER, SAYS UK PM

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak declared on Monday that the UK’S “golden era” of ties with China was over in his first major speech on foreign policy, describing China’s growing authoritarianism as a “systemic challenge to our values and interests”.

But Sunak stopped short of calling China a threat, disappointing China hawks in his Conservative Party who had until recently expected him to class China as a “threat” to UK security as part of an update of the government’s foreign and defence policies.

Referring to Beijing’s handling of protests, Sunak said that “instead of listening to their people’s protests, the Chinese government has chosen to crack down further, including by assaulting a BBC journalist”.