Sunak’s predecessor Liz Truss had intended to designate China a strategic threat in an update to the UK’s so-called Integrated Review, or IR, of defence and security. After economic turmoil led to an abrupt end to her tenure, Sunak – more emollient in approach – took a fresh look at the strategy and came to a different conclusion about the threat.
Sunak is visiting San Diego for talks with allies US President Joe Biden and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to unveil the next phase of the AUKUS nuclear submarine programme, a security partnership meant to counter China. Albanese is expected to opt for a British-designed fleet, with US boats being purchased as a stop-gap measure.
China-skeptic Conservative MP Alicia Kearns, who chairs Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, said in an interview that she welcomes “the recognition of the threat of China.” “By being weak in facing China, China doesn’t respect us. If we don’t show strength they won’t respect us. Project Kowtow is alive and well,” Duncan Smith, a longtime critic of Beijing, said in an interview.
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