UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly might not have got everything right in a foreign policy speech he made on Tuesday concerning China, for instance, on such issues as Taiwan and human rights.
Yet he should at least be commended for his sober-minded call for building a pragmatic and constructive relationship with the country, especially at a time when Downing Street is believed to be propelled to take an increasingly confrontational stance toward Beijing, which it has called a "systemic challenge".
"It would be clear and easy — and perhaps even satisfying — for me to declare a new Cold War and say that our goal is to isolate China," Cleverly said. "Clear, easy, satisfying — and wrong, because it would be a betrayal of our national interest and a willful misunderstanding of the modern world." Moreover, he underscored the need for the UK government to advance British interests directly with China, "while steadfastly defending our national security and our values".
The remarks made by Cleverly, who is expected to visit China this year, will certainly upset the hawkish elements in the United Kingdom's ruling Conservative party, who have urged the government to take a tougher stance on China. Yet in a way, they serve as a reflection of the reality in which an open confrontation with China will not only harm the UK's economic interests, already hurt by the travails of Brexit, but also compromise the global ability to engage and address common challenges. "No significant global problem — from climate change to pandemic prevention and control, from economic stability to nuclear proliferation — can be solved without China," as Cleverly said.
Indeed, after years of US-led attempts to contain China on all fronts, be it trade, technology or military, more and more political and economic leaders with an unblinkered view of global affairs have come to realize the absurdity of antagonizing the world's second-largest economy only for the selfish interests of the US' hegemonic ambitions.
French President Emmanuel Macron, during a visit to China early this month, suggested that the European Union should distance itself from tensions between Washington and Beijing over the Taiwan question. And US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said recently that any effort to decouple from China would be "disastrous".
China has never posed any threat to the UK's economic interests or security. Rather, Sino-British cooperation has proven to be in the interest of both countries and in line with the tide of the times. In 2021, trade in goods between the two countries topped $100 billion for the first time, compared with only $300 million five decades ago.
The golden era in Sino-UK relations may have receded into the past. But that does not mean the two countries are on a course of confrontation and decoupling. It is hopeful that the UK will let good sense prevail in its ties with China.