British Foreign Secretary David Cameron proposed the concept of the “Golden Era” between the UK and China during his term as Prime Minister. However, now, the UK’s policy towards China has become notably stronger. Cameron explained on Thursday (June 13th) that the change in UK policy is a response to changes in the real world and is also a result of the actions of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Since stepping down as Prime Minister, significant changes have occurred in the situations in Hong Kong, Xinjiang, and the South China Sea, as reported by the Central News Agency. It can also be seen that after Australia advocated for an investigation into the origins of COVID-19 and China’s early response measures in 2020, China took a tough approach towards Australia.
In March of last year, the UK government released the new “Integrated Review of Foreign, Defense, Security, and Development Policy,” describing China’s challenge to the world order as a “epochal challenge.” The report stated that since the previous IR report was released in 2021, China has chosen to strengthen its partnership with Russia and continues to ignore universal human rights and international commitments, posing a challenge to the core values of human rights and freedoms within the UN system that China claims to uphold under the guise of “multilateralism.”
The report mentions that the UK’s policy towards China is based on three fundamental principles: protecting UK national security and interests, achieving “policy coordination consistency” with allies, and maintaining contact with China.
During a meeting with the Foreign Press Association (FPA) in London, Cameron elaborated on these three principles, stating that China has shown more aggressive moves recently, such as activities in cyberspace, and the UK naturally has to protect its own security. However, the UK still believes that it is necessary to maintain contact and seek mutual respect and understanding with China.
Topics such as the UK general election, UK-EU relations, and the situation in Ukraine are hotly debated. Cameron, a member of the Conservative Party, has repeatedly emphasized that in an increasingly dangerous and unstable world, the Conservative Party is the best choice for upholding UK security interests.
The Group of Seven (G7) Summit is taking place in Italy from June 13 to 15. Cameron expressed his hope that the G7 and its allies would do their utmost to mobilize sanctions mechanisms and quickly divert the interests from frozen Russian sovereign assets located mainly in the EU and partially in the UK and the US to support Ukraine.
He also pointed out that the UK is committed to combating individuals and entities that support Russia’s war machine, globally tracking dual-use military goods entering Russia, and expanding sanctions to entities in China, Turkey, and Israel.