"It has been clear for many years that China's status as a second global superpower poses challenges to the world's democracies. Donald Trump's marauding behaviour as president of the first-placed superpower makes those challenges more acute. In the past, the UK's relationship with Beijing has been anchored, and sometimes dictated, by the alliance with Washington. Mr Trump's contempt for former allies, expressed as sabotage of Nato and a scattergun imposition of tariffs, scrambles the old strategic calculus."
"China accounts for just under a fifth of global gross domestic product. Its manufacturing output is greater than all G7 nations combined. It has a formidable AI sector, the only one in the world that competes with the US. It leads the world in green energy technology a field the current climate-sceptic White House administration is happy to neglect. It would be irrational to refuse to have a functional dialogue with such a country."
"Sir Keir is right when he observes that Britain has become an outlier in Europe in this respect and that the eight-year interval since the last trip by a prime minister to Beijing was too long. Kemi Badenoch's claim that, in Sir Keir's place, she would not go, demonstrates only that she has not thought seriously about what the top job involves."
China's emergence as a second global superpower presents significant economic and technological challenges to democracies. US unpredictability under Donald Trump has disrupted the traditional UK-US-China strategic alignment. The UK prime minister is balancing the pursuit of commercial opportunities with the need to safeguard national security and democratic principles. China contributes nearly a fifth of global GDP, surpasses G7 nations in manufacturing output, hosts a competitive AI sector, and leads in green energy technology. Functional diplomatic engagement with China is necessary despite serious concerns about civil rights erosion and political imprisonments in territories under Chinese control.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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