“It would be simple and easy — perhaps even satisfying — for me to declare a new Cold War and say our goal is to isolate China,” but that would be “wrong.”
Isolating China and treating it only as a threat would be a “mistake”, British Foreign Secretary James Cleverley is expected to say in a speech today, adopting a conciliatory tone despite tensions between London and Beijing.
“It would be simple and easy — perhaps even satisfying — for me to declare a new Cold War and say our goal is to isolate China,” but that would be “wrong,” Cleverley is expected to say, according to excerpts from speech he is expected to deliver tonight in London and were released by the ministry.
“It would be a betrayal of our national interests and a willful failure to understand the modern world,” he insists.
Relations between London and Beijing have been very strained for many years, particularly over Hong Kong, a British territory that returned to Chinese rule in 1997, or even repeated fears of military and economic espionage by China.
In its recent defense and diplomatic strategy update, the British government sees China as a “systemic challenge” pointing the finger at “the increasingly competitive economic and military aggression of the Chinese Communist Party”.
And a whole wing of the ruling Conservative Party favors tougher diplomacy with Beijing.
“Getting away from China would end up preventing us from solving the most important problems for humanity,” warns James Cleverly, however, citing climate change, pandemic prevention, economic stability or even the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons.
But the British foreign minister is also expected to warn in his speech that “China is now embarking on the largest peacetime military buildup in history”, calling on Beijing to show “transparency” about the purpose of its military expansion in the Asian region. – Pacific.
The region is a theater of rivalries between China and Western powers. Beijing has mainly expressed its disapproval of the strengthening of military cooperation between Washington, London and Canberra through the AUKUS alliance.
Besides, while admitting that perhaps “our differences with China will not be resolved quickly,” James Cleverly called on Beijing to “respect” international law, “especially the United Nations Charter that protects every country from an invasion.”
In his speech, the minister is also expected to condemn Beijing’s crackdown on the Uyghur Muslim minority.
Source :Skai
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