The UK cannot avoid engaging with China – but the red lines need to be clear

Editorial: Our national security is paramount, whatever the benefits of doing business with Beijing

Rishi Sunak will be well aware of the ‘challenge’ posed by China – the word he prefers to use instead of ‘threat’ (PA Wire)

The issue of how to deal with China is a thorny one for Rishi Sunak. The prime minister has faced criticism from some senior Conservatives that he is going too far in seeking a relationship with Beijing, given the threat it poses – but there are clear economic benefits for the UK in sustaining a dialogue with the Chinese government.

The arrest of a parliamentary researcher on suspicion of spying for Beijing is a reminder that the UK has to set clear boundaries, and to make clear when a line is crossed. Mr Sunak clearly believes that he did so on the sidelines of the G20 summit in India, by confronting China’s premier Li Qiang directly in order to convey “his significant concerns about Chinese interference in the UK’s parliamentary democracy”. Mr Li is understood to have responded by saying that the two leaders obviously have “differences in opinion” during the 20-minute conversation, which also touched on other areas such as trade.

Mr Sunak will be well aware of the “challenge” posed by China – the word he prefers to use instead of “threat”. A report from parliament’s spy agency watchdog, the intelligence and security committee, cautioned in July that Beijing is targeting the UK “prolifically and aggressively”. Last year, MI5 also issued a rare security alert, warning MPs that a suspected Chinese spy had engaged in “political interference activities” on behalf of Beijing.

It is events such as these that have caused China hawks like Sir Iain Duncan Smith to believe that Beijing presents a “systemic threat”, and that Mr Sunak and his government are being naive. Sir Iain is not wrong to point out that our national security is paramount, and that the sheer audacity of China in carrying out such activities is beyond the pale. “I think the right thing to do is to take the opportunity to engage to raise concerns specifically” rather than “carping from the sidelines”, Mr Sunak has said – and that is fair, as long as the UK’s stance actually succeeds in deterring Beijing.

As we have written before, China, as an industrial, technological and military superpower, is simply too big to ignore, too powerful to attempt to bully, and too important to abuse. But the line of what is acceptable has to be completely clear, to both sides, as well as what the consequences of stepping over it will be.

Such clarity was not on display from the justice secretary, Alex Chalk, when he had to correct himself for initially using the word “threat” in an interview on Sunday morning. “The prime minister has been very clear: when it comes to China, it is an epoch-defining threat... challenge, forgive me... so of course we have got to take it extremely seriously,” he told Sky News.

There is little that can be achieved outside the room where discussions take place, which is also how Mr Sunak defended a recent trip to China by the foreign secretary, James Cleverly. But that does not mean that appeasement is our only option. The joint communique out of the G20 summit this weekend did not directly condemn Russia for its invasion of Ukraine – despite a statement from a previous meeting, in Bali in November, having done so. Kyiv in particular was not happy with such a show of weakness, and Mr Sunak’s backing of the statement as “very strong” does him a disservice – as it does the whole of the G20.

When it comes to China, Mr Sunak should be in the room to make the UK’s position clear. He just has to make sure that he raises his voice enough in doing so, and backs his words up with clear actions – not least by ensuring that Britain’s own security protocols are tight across all areas of public life, in order to keep Beijing’s more nefarious ambitions in check.