For years, the narrative ran that China was the coming power. Well, now it has arrived, and the UK needs a China policy that recognizes this reality. But instead, for years, we’ve blown hot and cold. We had the golden age of relations under David Cameron and George Osborne which then flipped to the ice age that some still advocate. The result is that whilst our allies have developed a more sophisticated sophisticated approach, the UK has become an outlier, a country that poses real national security threats to the United Kingdom. With all that in mind, the absence of engagement is just staggering. a dereliction of duty because it means that unlike our allies, we have not been standing up for our interests. No, protecting our security is non-negotiable, our first duty. But by taking tough steps to keep us secure, we enable ourselves to cooperate in other areas.
