Xi snubbed Sunak to send ‘message’ on Taiwan

Beijing cancelled talks at G20 after PM failed to rule out sending arms to Taipei, Chinese media reports

CHINA’S president snubbed Rishi Sunak at the G20 summit to send a “message” to Britain over its support for Taiwan, a newspaper controlled by Beijing has said.

A planned meeting between Xi Jinping and the Prime Minister in Bali was cancelled because Mr Sunak failed to rule out Britain sending military aid to help defend the disputed island from China, according to an editorial in the Global Times, a Communist Party mouthpiece.

“London should really ponder the message behind such a statement, as should all other countries and forces attempting to play the ‘Taiwan card’ to threaten China’s sovereignty,” the newspaper said.

“As long as London doesn’t stop its provocative behaviours on issues involving Beijing’s bottom line, there is no hope for improving bilateral relations [...] the UK has killed the possibility of having a dialogue with China.”

The Government said the bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit was cancelled at short notice over “scheduling issues” after a missile struck Poland on Tuesday, raising fears of a war between Russia and Nato.

The last-minute meeting between Mr Sunak and Mr Xi would have been the first bilateral talks between Britain and Chinese leaders for half a decade.

Britain’s relations with Beijing have sunk to new lows in recent months. Mr Sunak’s predecessor, Liz Truss, caused controversy in June when she suggested that Britain could send military aid to Taiwan as it has to Ukraine.

Although Mr Sunak risked the wrath of backbenchers by softening his tone towards China, his failure to explicitly rule out sending arms angered Beijing, Global Times claimed in an article quoting Chinese experts.

China was also infuriated after Greg Hands, the minister of state for trade policy, visited Taiwan. Chinese politicians urged Britain to adhere to “the one-china principle and stop sending wrong signals to Taiwan secessionist forces”, Global Times reported.

“China poses significant challenges to our values, interests, and indeed our economic security,” Mr Sunak said in the House of Commons yesterday after returning from Indonesia. He added: “It’s right that we take the steps necessary to defend ourselves against them, but it is also wise to engage in dialogue where that makes a difference.”

He said he had discussed how to meet “the challenges posed by China” with Mr Biden at the G20 summit, adding that the British approach was “aligned entirely” with Washington.

Sir Iain Duncan Smith, the former leader of the Conservative Party, yesterday criticised the Government for failing to crackdown on “Chinese police stations” operating in Britain.

A report last month by civil liberties group Safeguard Defenders identified a global network of undeclared police hubs that are used to silence dissenters. It identified three possible outposts, including a restaurant in Glasgow.

Sir Iain said: “[Whitehall] seems to be completely ignorant or deliberately obtuse as to what is going on in [these hubs].

“The biggest problem we face here… is the Foreign Office and the Treasury are very resistant to any proactive activity taking place when it comes to China.”