OPINION | Sino-UK relations sour further after the G20 summit: ‘The China threat’ provides Sunak with a way to divert attention from his domestic problems but he needs to tread carefully
With Rishi Sunak’s dramatic entry into 10 Downing Street as the new British prime minister, Sino-UK relations were expected to hit a new low because of his aggressive anti-China tone in his run-up for leadership of the Conservative Party.
The fact is that face-to-face meetings at the G20 summit between Xi and US President Joe Biden, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, in spite of not finding anything “concrete” in terms of diplomatic discourse, have at least enabled all the participants to build a personal rapport for better communication in the future.
This call immediately signalled that we should brace for further high-voltage anti-China hype from the new British prime minister. When Sunak and Liz Truss fought to win the leadership of the Conservative Party, they indulged in a frantic competition of China-bashing to prove themselves the bigger China hawk to lure the Tory faithful.
He has never hesitated in bluntly expressing his anti-China sentiments and considers the leadership of the Communist Party and China as “the largest threat to Britain and the world’s security and prosperity this century”. The sudden cancellation of the Xi-Sunak meeting does not augur well for the resurrection of trust between the two sides. With Sunak in Downing Street, it is expected that the Sino-UK relationship will be further chilled.
These arguments are too optimistic. It is expected that, though himself not a populist leader, Sunak will try to copy other populist leaders like Donald Trump who nurtured the China hype to divert attention from his poor performance. Once the dust settles, and Sunak enters into the third and fourth month of his premiership, the anxiety over the deteriorating economy will again start inciting the British public and he will need a “detractor” to offset the mounting pressure.