Editor's comment: Sunak talks a lot about China, but some British people still think China is "soft"

British Prime Minister Sunak165438+1October 28th delivered his first foreign policy speech since he took office, in which the part about China policy received the most attention. Sunak said that China "poses a systematic challenge" to British values and interests. This negative expression, which China people think has no basis, has not been satisfied by some people in Britain. They think that Sunak did not formally list China as a "threat" to Britain. Critics believe that this is a "softening" and "appeasement policy" of their position on China, and it is a "big mistake", which can be seen from their extreme mentality towards China.

In just a few years, Britain has turned its "golden age" of Sino-British relations into today's color, and even "China poses a systematic challenge to Britain" has been softened by some people. This shows that the radicalization of British politics has reached a point where it is out of step. How did this amazing change in Britain happen? How does Downing Street 10' s radical attitude towards China prevail? What catalyst caused the chemical reaction in British politics? A careful study of these major issues related to the future direction of Britain will reveal that the key links are often influenced by some politicians' emotionalism and narrow subjective perception of China, and the external influence from Washington also plays a significant role.

Sunak's two predecessors, Johnson and Trass, once defined or prepared to define China as a "systematic competitor" and a "threat". During this period, British anti-China MPs have been exerting strong pressure on Downing Street 10, trying to nail China to a "threatening" hostile position on the map of the Prime Minister's Office. When Sunak called China a "systematic challenge", it should be said that he took a "middle number": he became more ideological than his previous pragmatic attitude towards China, while keeping a certain distance from the most radical ideas. Therefore, although the charges against him seem absurd, it is not surprising.

As for how China "poses a systematic challenge" or even "threat" to Britain, it is basically the imagination of some British politicians. It is very irresponsible to say that there is no rigorous argumentation process. This is not only the sorrow of Britain, which was once a global empire, but also will make Britain pay a painful price. If Britain's diplomacy, especially its China policy, is increasingly dominated by them, Britain's international status and influence will accelerate. Sooner or later, the British should deeply reflect on this lesson.

In fact, there is still huge room for mutual benefit between China and Britain. The complementary structure in the economic and trade fields has not changed, and the need for multilateral cooperation on global issues also exists. China is still the China committed to opening up and cooperation, and its expectations for Sino-British relations have not changed. An intuitive example is that despite many unfavorable factors, Sino-British economic and trade cooperation has been steadily rising, even rising against the trend in many fields. In 20021year, the bilateral trade volume between China and Britain once again set a new record. At the same time, the two countries also maintain multilateral interaction in the fields of climate change, global health and counter-terrorism, and both sides need each other. As a former chancellor of the exchequer, Sunak obviously knows this, but his current caution can't even be called "balance", but more like being squeezed by the negative energy of partisan struggle and political polarization. This is the sorrow of British politics.

In the past two years, the British government's statement on China has been constantly adjusted, which reflects the confusion of its foreign policy to some extent. This kind of chaos is almost at the same frequency as the internal chaos caused by Britain's withdrawal from the European Union, which first reflects the collapse of Britain's self-confidence as an old empire. Unable to solve all kinds of internal and external troubles, extreme anti-China has become a lifeline for some politicians. On some China issues, London's position is even more radical than Washington's, as if Britain could not prove itself without doing so. As a result, however, people see a sensitive, fragile and narrow Britain, more like a messenger doing dirty work for Washington. It depends. This situation will continue for some time. Any country has to consider these factors when dealing with Britain, but this is mainly Britain's own problem, and it is the British who ultimately pay the price.

On the whole, Sunak Bitras seems to be more rational on the China issue, at least in a different tone. However, we haven't seen Sunak make enough efforts to reverse Britain's wrong line towards China, but his term of office has just begun, and the outside world needs to listen to his words and deeds. We hope that no matter who the British Prime Minister is, he will not be held back by various radical forces, because the wrong views of those politicians are poisoning the British public opinion environment against China like poisonous mushrooms amplified and fermented by public opinion, and poisonous mushrooms are not allowed to be eaten.

Extended reading:

Sunak once said that when he became prime minister, he would close the Confucius Institute and put two "hats" on China.

Writing/chopping knife will be appointed as finance minister in February next year.

However, Johnson's resignation as prime minister is directly related to Sunak. It was Sunak and then Health Minister Dzzavid who resigned almost at the same time, which triggered a chain reaction. About 50 government members resigned in 48 hours, and Johnson was forced to step down.

This is also regarded by many as Sunak's "political stain".

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In addition, Sunak's Indian identity has also been questioned.

Sunak 1980 was born in an Indian immigrant family in Southampton, England. His parents grew up in East Africa and their ancestral home is Punjab, India. In the 1960s, his grandparents came to England with their families.

His skin color makes many Indians feel close thousands of miles away.

On the 24th, in addition to the British themselves, the Indian media kept an eye on whether Sunak could be successfully elected.

This day coincides with Diwali, India's biggest festival. Late the day before, the Indian men's cricket team just defeated its arch-rival Pakistan in the T20 World Cup final. But this does not prevent the news that "Sunak is expected to take over as British Prime Minister" from occupying the front pages of major Indian newspapers and becoming the headlines of most Indian English websites.

"Why is the mainstream media in India so enthusiastic about Sunak's election as British Prime Minister?"

Some Indians expressed their incomprehension on social media, saying that "Sunak is not an Indian" and "this has nothing to do with India".

They believe that although Sunak is of Indian descent, he is a "thorough Englishman" and his style, views, morality and thoughts are "very English".

But Sunak's Indian blood and his self-identification and love for Indian culture, consciously or unconsciously, have also been welcomed by many Indians.

As a Hindu, Sunak claimed not to eat beef all his life, and often put the statue of "Elephant Head God" representing good luck and protection in Hindu mythology on his desk.

After being re-elected as a member of the British House of Commons in 20 17, he took the oath according to the Hindu classic Bhagavad gita.

In 2020, after becoming the first Indian Finance Minister in Britain, Sunak lit candles at the Finance Minister's residence at Downing Street 1 1 to celebrate Diwali.

In April this year, Sunak was controversial because his wife did not become a British citizen and used it as a means of tax avoidance. At that time, he explained to the British media: "My wife loves India and she will eventually go back there to take care of her parents." This reply obviously attracted a wave of goodwill among the Indian people.

In the battle for the leader of the Conservative Party in August, Sunak affirmed the importance of Britain-India relations, saying that he hoped that the relations between the two countries would become more "two-way exchanges". He also said: "Britain can learn a lot from India."

At that time, some Indians thought that if Sunak entered Downing Street, Britain and India could establish closer bilateral relations.

This time, when expecting Sunak's victory, due to the particularity of time, some people were mixed with different emotions.

Rajiv Dogra, a former Indian diplomat, said: "Sunak's becoming prime minister will be a great Diwali gift for Britain, which is one of the reasons why India is worth celebrating."

Some Indian netizens wrote on social media: "When Sunak was a member of parliament, he was sworn according to the Bhagavad-gita. What a great day it will be for India if he repeats the same action after being elected prime minister! This year happens to be the 75th anniversary of our independence from Britain. "

In fact, Sunak is not the first Indian national leader to go abroad. American Vice President Harris and Portuguese Prime Minister Costa all have Indian backgrounds. When they were elected, they also aroused the pride and joy that Indians could not hide.

Some media advised the Indian people to calm down. After all, these foreign politicians in India have left India. In any sense, they are not Indians now.

There are also netizens with African heads reminding on Twitter not to expect what Sunak will do for India, but to see what Africans get from Obama.

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As for China, before the general election, Sunak always advocated the development of a "mature and balanced relationship" with China, and repeatedly expressed the hope to promote the resumption of the Sino-British economic dialogue.

However, in the "big dye vat" where British politics as a whole showed its strength to China, Sunak did not change his rhetoric unexpectedly.

During the general election debate, he declared that on his first day as prime minister, he would "prevent China from taking over British universities, close all Confucius Institutes, and order MI5 to protect domestic enterprises and government agencies from the threat of cyber hackers in China".

Sunak also put on China two "hats" that some conservative politicians often talk about: "In Britain, China is stealing our technology and infiltrating into our universities; Internationally, they supported Putin's fascist invasion of Ukraine by buying oil. "

Sunak also promised to cooperate with US President Biden and other allied leaders to "change the West's ability to deal with the threat of China".

Gao Jian believes that if the British Conservative Party, including British political circles, indulge in the Cold War mentality and zero-sum game, there will be a greater crisis in Britain's domestic and foreign affairs in the future.

To give a simple example, now that the central government is in such a mess, what about Scotland's "independence referendum" next year? Scotland has indicated that it will hold a second "referendum on independence" in 2023, regardless of whether the central government agrees or not.

The historical and cultural background of this referendum is completely different from the last one. Before Britain did not leave the European Union, Scotland, as a part of Britain, was an underdeveloped region and enjoyed the welfare treatment of the European Union. The choice of the first "referendum" is not independent and has practical interests. Now Britain has "Britain leaves the EU", which is a structural change. What will happen to Britain once Scotland is divided?

Gao Jian said that after Britain left the European Union, the British political system was very bad in dealing with social crisis. To what extent can Sunak save the crisis after taking over? "I am personally pessimistic." So far, the party struggle and internal contradictions of the British Conservative Party have not shown signs of easing.

They only have two years left, unless they dissolve the parliament ahead of time and declare a general election. But they don't have the courage, because in the latest opinion polls, the Labour Party is ahead of the Conservative Party.

Labour took the lead, not because none of them could save the situation in Britain, but because the Conservative Party really let the British people down.

It remains to be seen whether the Labour Party will learn from the bitter experience and come up with a constructive plan in the future.

The picture comes from the internet.