The UK’s eager courtship of China, which reached its peak on Tuesday with the start of a state visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), is viewed in other Western capitals with a mixture of concern and derision.
Critics argue that the Cameron government may be overestimating the economic benefits of its “golden decade” strategy on China, and grossly underestimating the strategic costs, in terms of dependence on Beijing for critical infrastructure and alienating Washington and other Western allies.
“I think there is obviously going to be concern from the administration that there is too much of a gap between the US’ approach to China on a whole basket of issues, of which cybersecurity is the most pressing, and the messaging from the UK government during the visit,” said Heather Conley, a former US Department of State official now with the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.
The contrast in the mood music of Xi’s stay in Buckingham Palace this week and his visit to the US last month is marked. Just before his arrival in Washington, US President Barack Obama threatened to impose sanctions on China for cyberattacks on US companies, and withheld them when Xi pledged to avoid “knowingly” hacking US firms. However, a report issued on Monday suggested the attacks were still going on.
“What I think Washington is seeking from the UK is a balanced approach to Beijing,” Conley said. “We appreciate the economic importance of the relationship, but if there is no balance with the values promoted by the Western community, then the policy is not going to be durable. There is growing concern the UK approach doesn’t have that balance.”
Philippe Le Corre, a French expert and the author of a forthcoming book on Chinese investment strategy called China’s Offensive in Europe, said the UK was not alone in its courtship of Beijing. German Chancellor Angela Merkel is to visit China next week, and French President Francois Hollande is to follow in her wake next month.
Hollande said the UK was going further than other major European states in terms of opening up sensitive infrastructure such as national railways and nuclear power stations.
“It could be that expectations are too high and there will be fewer deals than expected. The financing part is always a bit more complicated than people think. Chinese banks will have to get their act together,” said Le Corre, now a visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington.
“The key question is infrastructure and whether the UK has given away too much of its stakes and assets to a country like China,” he said. “In the long run, David Cameron is taking a risk both in terms of the infrastructure assets and Britain’s long-term relationships by trying to be China’s best friend when China has a very different way at looking at the world. That is especially true when there is tension between the US and China over the Pacific.”
If those Pacific tensions worsen, the UK could be forced into a situation where it has to choose between Washington and Beijing.
“The biggest threat to international security is in Asia, the rise of China and the possibility of a great power confrontation. That’s what Britain should be thinking about,” said Hans Kundnani, a fellow of the German Marshall Fund of the United States, based in Berlin.
Germany has hitherto seen itself as China’s most important trading partner in Europe and Kundnani said: “Some people in Berlin see this a rather pathetic British attempt to compete.”
He said Germany had been criticized previously for downgrading human rights and political issues in its dealing with China, but added: “I find it quite shocking that Britain is not just doing the same thing, but going much further. It is doing it even more dramatically and even more embarrassingly.
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