My Take | Democratic politics in the West is shown to be as fickle as they come
- China is not intrinsically a threat to Britain or its allies because its status mostly depends on their shifting domestic policies and external needs
China is a threat. China is not a threat. Britain can’t seem to decide. At the moment, its latest prime minister appears to think it isn’t, well, at least not exactly. Cornered by reporters travelling with him to the G20 summit in Bali, Rishi Sunak hinted he would not take up a plan first floated by his predecessor Liz Truss to declare China a “threat” to British national security as part of a major review of the nation’s foreign policy.
He softened his language on Beijing and replied twice to questions from reporters that he had no intention to elevate China’s status to a “threat”, rather than a “systemic competitor” as stated in the current version of Britain’s integrated review of its foreign and defence priorities from last year that was originally ordered by Boris Johnson.
Gone was the language of “CHINA OUR #1 THREAT”, typed in bold on the subject line of his Tory leadership campaign press release while he was running against Truss before the Conservative Party’s faithful.
But then there have already been three prime ministers this year; who knows what the next one will think about China?
Perhaps he or she can pick rose petals, but instead of asking, she loves me, she loves me not … it can be, China is a threat, China is not a threat.
The fact of the matter is that national security, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. China is not intrinsically one or the other; its status is mostly dependent on the domestic politics and external exigencies of Britain and its allies.