China Is ‘Biggest State-Based Threat’ to Britain’s Economic Security, Says Rishi Sunak

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak leaves 10 Downing Street to attend Prime Minister's Questions at the House of Commons in London on Nov. 2, 2022. Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has told journalists on his way to the G-20 summit in Indonesia that China poses the “biggest state-based threat to our economic security.”

China’s leader and head of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Xi Jinping, will be at the G-20 summit in Bali and Sunak said, “Hopefully I will have a chance to talk to him.”

Sunak told reporters on the plane, “My view is that China poses a systemic challenge to our values and interests and it represents the biggest state-based threat to our economic security.”

He said the government would use the new National Security Investment Act to protect vital British infrastructure from falling into the hands of companies which might endanger national security.

“But I also think that China is an indisputable fact of the global economy and we’re not going to be able to resolve shared global challenges like climate change, or public health, or indeed actually dealing with Russia and Ukraine, without having a dialogue with them,” he added.

Sunak also said Britain would consider sending arms to help Taiwan defend itself in the event of an attack by the regime in Beijing.

Sunak Repeats Call for ‘Peaceful Resolution’ to Taiwan Issue

Sunak said: “Our policy on Taiwan is obviously there should be no unilateral change to the status and there should be a peaceful resolution to that situation. We stand ready to support Taiwan as we do in standing up to Chinese aggression.”

Taiwan—which is formally known as the Republic of China—is considered by the CCP to be a rogue province of China that will one day be reunited with the mainland.

Taiwan, however, operates as a sovereign country with its own government, legislature, and judicial systems independent of the communist regime.

The CCP has repeatedly threatened to invade and militarily enforce unification if Taiwan declares independence.

A year after the CCP defeated the nationalist Kuomintang in 1949, Britain recognised the regime in Beijing in 1950 and downgraded its relations with Chiang Kai-Shek, who had retreated to Taiwan.

It was the first Western power to do so—the United States did not take the same step until 1979, seven years after President Richard Nixon visited Beijing—but it was not until 1972 that Britain signed an agreement (pdf) in which it recognised “Taiwan was a province of China and recognised the PRC [People’s Republic of China] Government as the sole legal government of China.”

U.S. President Joe Biden (R) and China's leader Xi Jinping (L) meet on the sidelines of the G-20 Summit in Nusa Dua on the Indonesian resort island of Bali on Nov. 14, 2022. Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

U.S. President Joe Biden held talks with Xi on Monday, in which he accused Beijing of “coercive and increasingly aggressive actions” towards Taiwan.

Sunak is seen by many political analysts as being less hawkish on Beijing than his predecessor, Liz Truss, who resigned in October after a miserable 49 days as prime minister.

But London and Beijing have considerable disagreements over respect for human rights in Hong Kong and in the province of Xinjiang—which has a large Muslim Uyghur minority which has been persecuted in recent years—and by the CCP’s refusal to break ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin following the invasion of Ukraine.

PA Media contributed to this report.