Beijing’s silent prayer on Brexit vote, better in than out

BEIJING: While some world leaders have trumpeted support for Britain to stay in the European Union ( EU) in this month’s referendum, China has kept a low profile.

But with an important stake in the economic consequences, Beijing also quietly wants the “remain” camp to win.

Relations between Britain and China have been warming over the past few years, and economic links have multiplied in tandem. China has, for example, looked to London for help in developing its financial markets and regulation, and Britain has sought Chinese investment in fields such as power and high- speed rail.

“Of course, if you are investing in Britain as a way into the European market, using Britain as a bridge into the EU’s 27 other nations, then once Britain leaves the EU, that bridgehead will be curtailed,” Yao Ling, deputy director of a research centre under the Commerce Ministry, said in a ministry-run newspaper in May.

Diplomatic sources say China has given coded support for the “remain” camp by calling for a strong, united Europe - something President Xi Jinping told British Prime Minister David Cameron in October, and Foreign Minister Wang Yi repeated last month.

“This is China getting the message out indirectly that it wants Britain to stay in the EU,” said one Beijing-based Western diplomat, citing conversations with Chinese officials.

And for the avoidance of doubt, Chinese state-run media have given broad coverage to the potential economic and financial consequences of a British exit, or “Brexit”, with some questioning why Britain is putting such risks up for a vote.

One Chinese financial news website, FX678.com, carried a cartoon last month showing a rocket called “British dreams” being waved away by the people of the EU, under the headline: “The Brexit referendum isn’t a game. Are the people of Britain scared yet?”

The website warned that leaving the bloc would hit British growth and the pound, while a lesser impact would “wash over the globe”. — Reuters