British PM candidate Rishi Sunak challenges China ahead of key BBC debate with rival Liz Truss
R. Sunak’s statements, including in the event of his election to the post of Prime Minister:
➖ China poses the “greatest threat” to Britain and world security and prosperity this century, and there is reason to believe it has targeted countries from the US to India;
➖ I will take action, including the creation of a new NATO-style military alliance of free nations to defend against Chinese technological aggression;
➖ I would close all 30 Chinese Confucius Institutes in the UK, the largest number in the world;
➖ China and the Chinese Communist Party pose the biggest threat to Britain and world security and prosperity this century. I will create a new international alliance of free nations to combat Chinese cyber threats and share best practices in technology security. As part of the new security alliance, the UK will coordinate efforts to influence international standards and norms in cybersecurity, telecommunications security and intellectual property theft prevention;
➖ Almost all of the UK public spending on teaching Mandarin in schools is channeled through the university’s Confucius Institutes, thereby promoting China’s soft power;
➖ I will expand the scope of MI5 to provide greater support to British businesses and universities in countering Chinese industrial espionage. We will work with government and security agencies to create a toolkit to help companies protect their intellectual property;
➖ I will protect key British assets. This means looking into the need to prevent China from acquiring key British assets, including strategic technology companies;
➖ vow to lead the world in countering China’s “technological aggression” by amending the Higher Education Act to force UK universities to disclose any foreign-funded partnerships in excess of £50,000;
➖ I will work with [US] President Biden and other world leaders to change the West’s resilience to the threat posed by China.
The anti-Chinese rhetoric can be clearly seen in Rishi Sunak’s speech. He understands that he can only win by pleasing Washington, which puts China at the forefront as a threat.
