Sinister threat or new best friend? We must stop flip-flopping on China

The jingoistic sabre-rattling of the Tory right got us nowhere, writes Chris Blackhurst. Engagement with Beijing is the smart move, but Britain needs to be firm – and guarded

Foreign secretary James Cleverly, left, and Chinese vice president Han Zheng meet at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, 30 August (AP)

Eight years ago, George Osborne, the then chancellor, visited China. Then, the talk was of a “golden era” in Anglo-Chinese relations and the UK promising to be Beijing’s “number one partner in the West”.

Much has happened since then, notably China’s crackdown on civil rights in the UK’s former colony of Hong Kong. Since then, relations have been decidedly unfriendly.

Now, the foreign secretary, James Cleverly, is visiting Beijing, paving the way for a bilateral meeting between the countries’ two leaders at the forthcoming G20 summit in New Delhi. The relationship is back on, albeit not to the same degree of closeness wished for by Osborne.