While some world leaders have trumpeted support for the UK to stay in the EU in this month’s referendum, China has kept a low profile, but with an important stake in the economic consequences, Beijing also quietly wants the “remain” camp to win.
Relations between the UK and China have been warming over the past few years, and economic links have multiplied in tandem. For example, China has looked to London for help in developing its financial markets and regulation, and the UK has sought Chinese investment in fields such as power and high-speed rail.
“Of course, if you are investing in Britain as a way into the European market, using Britain as a bridge into the EU’s 27 other nations, then once Britain leaves the EU, that bridgehead will be curtailed,” Yao Ling (姚鈴), deputy director of a research center under the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, said in a ministry-run newspaper last month.
Diplomatic sources say China has given coded support for the “remain” camp by calling for a strong, united Europe — something Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) told British Prime Minister David Cameron in October last year, and Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) repeated last month.
“This is China getting the message out indirectly that it wants Britain to stay in the EU,” said one Beijing-based Western diplomat, citing conversations with Chinese officials.
And for the avoidance of doubt, Chinese state-run media have given broad coverage to the potential economic and financial consequences of a UK exit, or “Brexit,” with some questioning why the UK is putting such risks up for a vote.
One Chinese financial news Web site, FX678.com, carried a cartoon last month showing a rocket called “British dreams” being waved away by the people of the EU, under the headline: “The Brexit referendum isn’t a game. Are the people of Britain scared yet?”
The Web site said that leaving the bloc would hit UK growth and the pound sterling, while a lesser impact would “wash over the globe.”
China has long avoided commenting on other nations’ internal affairs, lest it invite reciprocal interference in Chinese politics, and the media debate has also looked at the opportunities that could arise should the UK vote to leave on June 23.
Last month’s China Money magazine, published by the People’s Bank of China, said it would leave the UK free to sign a free-trade deal directly with China, which could create opportunities for Chinese firms in Britain and vice versa.
“China’s vast market could satisfy the exports needs of Britain post-Brexit, and the countries’ cooperation would broaden and deepen,” the magazine wrote.
Although China and the UK have a history of disputes over human rights and the future of former British colony Hong Kong, diplomats say export-reliant China values the UK as a strong advocate for free trade.
The UK has been a prominent supporter of Beijing’s in the EU regarding China’s push for market economy status, which would make it easier for China to import into the bloc and defeat protectionist measures.
Beijing is also worried about any weakening of the EU itself from losing its second-largest economy and third-most populous nation. Diplomats say it views the bloc as a vital counterbalance to the US.
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