April 25, 2023
2 mins read

UK govt warns China secrecy over military expansion risks

Cleverly will say it would be a mistake to try to isolate China and engagement is needed in areas such as climate change, pandemic prevention, economic stability and nuclear proliferation…reports Asian Lite News

British foreign minister James Cleverly will urge China to be more open about the reasons behind what he called the biggest military build-up in peacetime history and said secrecy could lead to a “tragic miscalculation”.

Relations between Britain and China are the worst in decades as London has restricted Chinese investment over national security concerns and grown more worried about Beijing’s increasing military and economic assertiveness.

In a speech at Mansion House in London’s historic financial district on Tuesday evening, Cleverly will say Britain is open about seeking to deepen cooperation with allies in the Indo-Pacific and called for China to be clear about its intentions.

“I urge China to be equally open about the doctrine and intent behind its military expansion, because transparency is surely in everyone’s interests and secrecy can only increase the risk of tragic miscalculation,” Cleverly will say, according to extracts released by his office.

Britain is recalibrating its approach to China after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced in November the end to what was considered a golden era of relations under former prime minister David Cameron.

While the leaders of France, Germany and Spain have visited China in the last six months and called for engagement with the world’s second biggest economy, the United States and Britain are taking a tougher approach to what they consider a growing threat from Beijing to their interests and values.

Cleverly will say it would be a mistake to try to isolate China and engagement is needed in areas such as climate change, pandemic prevention, economic stability and nuclear proliferation.

“It would be clear and easy – perhaps even satisfying – for me to declare a new Cold War,” he will say. “Clear, easy, satisfying – and wrong.”

But Cleverly will say that Britain will protect its national security interests and call out Beijing if it breaks its international obligations or abuses human rights.

Cleverly will use his speech to condemn the treatment of the Uyghur people in China’s Xinjiang region.

He will accuse China of building “a 21st-century version of the gulag archipelago” and “locking up over a million people at the height of this campaign, often for doing nothing more than observing their religion”.

ALSO READ-Sunak goes live on LinkedIn to push growth plans

Previous Story

Hunt admits UK business taxes are too high

Next Story

N.Korea pledges elevated ties with Russia

Latest from -Top News

EU, China United on Climate, Split on Rest

Climate pact offers rare unity as trade rifts, Ukraine war, and economic tensions dominate EU-China summitChina and the European Union struck a rare note of unity on climate change Thursday, issuing a

Hungary Pays the Trump Price

Despite his success in wooing Trump’s conservative base, Hungary is among the EU nations most vulnerable to Trump’s incoming tariff blitz Hungary’s populist Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has spent years forging close

Meta Muzzles Election Ads

Meta to Halt Political Ads in EU, Citing Legal Uncertainty Over New Rules Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and Threads, announced on Friday that it will suspend all political advertising

Holy War Talk

Russian officials have downplayed the Vatican’s potential role as a mediator, citing its location within NATO-member Italy, which has firmly supported Ukraine throughout the war. In a move that may signal an

Greece Battles Blazes, Heatwave Chaos

With temperatures soaring above 38°C (100°F), and dry, windy conditions prevailing, fires are spreading fast. A wildfire tore through a northern suburb of Athens on Saturday, forcing residents to evacuate as Greece
Go toTop

Don't Miss

Only 3 Chinese projects in Gwadar completed

The CPEC Authority, which Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal wants to

Indian-origin data scientist wins UK’s top rail award

This award, announced at a recent ceremony in Birmingham, is