A new cold war?
Relations between London and Beijing further soured this week after the UK suspended its extradition treaty with Hong Kong, in response to the new security law China has imposed on the former colony. The UK also extended an arms embargo to stop the export to Hong Kong of equipment that could be used for “internal repression”. China’s ambassador in London, Liu Xiaoming, accused the UK of “gross interference” in Chinese affairs.
The Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab, said Beijing’s security law was a “clear and serious violation” of the deal between China and the UK, and accused China of gross human rights abuses against its Uighur Muslim minority. Liu said talk of concentration camps was “fake” after he was shown drone footage appearing to show blindfolded Uighurs being put on trains. On a visit to London, the US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, praised the UK for taking a tougher line and for deciding to strip Huawei technology from its 5G mobile networks by 2027.
What the editorials said
So much for Tory hopes of a glorious new era of AngloChinese trade, said The Times. The Government has done well to pivot away from Beijing, even if it has been motivated primarily by a desire to keep in with Washington. Beijing’s treatment of Hong Kong is “intolerable and a clear breach of treaty obligations”. The UK was right to suspend the extradition treaty and extend the arms embargo, said The Guardian. But it should steer clear of America’s more aggressive stance. There is absurd talk in the US of imposing a travel ban on all 92 million members of China’s Communist Party and their families, or banning all Chinese science and technology students.
The UK must be realistic, said The Independent. While it’s hard to see what pressure we can effectively bring on the Uighur issue, we can exert leverage over Beijing with regards to Hong Kong, a key trading hub that enjoys “the highest per capita income of China bar the special case of Macau”. We must strike a balance between honouring our values and maintaining an “adequately open relationship” with China that allows us to cooperate over common concerns such as climate change.