China no. 1 threat to security, says Rishi Sunak

LONDON: Britain’s two prime ministerial contenders were set Monday to go head-to-head for the first time in a televised debate after a weekend of tough talking on China. In response to criticism by Conservative leadership favourite Liz Truss, rival Rishi Sunak announced plans to crack down on Beijing’s influence, calling it the “number one threat” to domestic and global security.

China’s state-run Global Times has previously said former finance minister Sunak was the only candidate in the contest with “a clear and pragmatic view on developing UKChina ties”. Daily Mail newspaper, which has come out for foreign secretary Truss in the race to succeed Boris Johnson, called that “the endorsement that nobody wanted”.

Sunak’s proposals include the closure of all 30 Confucius Institutes in UK, preventing the soft-power spread of Chinese influence through culture and language programmes. He also promised to “kick the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) out of our universities”, by forcing higher education establishments to disclose foreign funding of over £50,000 and reviewing research partnerships. Spy agency MI5 would be used to help combat Chinese espionage, and he would look to build “Nato-style” international cooperation to tackle Chinese threats in cyberspace.

“Given that there is evidence to suggest China has targeted countries from the US to India, Rishi is confident that he can create a broad alliance including countries from all over the world,” the “Ready4Rishi” campaign said in a statement.

China’s foreign ministry said in response that UK politicians should not “talk about China at every turn and make irresponsible remarks such as the so-called ‘China threat theory’, which can’t solve their problems”. Sunak hasbeen accused by Truss of being soft on both China and Russia when he was finance minister, reportedly raising economic concerns when Johnson pushed for tough sanctions following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

His toughened line on China came ahead of Monday’s BBC TV debate, to be held at 9pm ( local time), as he looks to claw ground back from Truss. Opinion polls put Truss well ahead in the crucial hunt for votes from the roughly 2,00,000 grassroots Tory members, after she and Sunak emerged as the run-off candidates in a series of votes by MPs. The winner will be announced on September 5. Truss has similarly urged a tougher approach, calling for the G7 to become an “economic Nato” against Chinese threats and warned Beijing of sanctions if it does not play by international rules. Her allies hit out at Sunak for not doing more when he was chancellor of the exchequer. “Over the last two years, the treasury has pushed hard for an economic deal with China. . . despite China brutally cracking down on democracy campaigners in Hong Kong, threatening Taiwan, illegally occupying the South China Sea, committing genocide on Uighurs,” said former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith.