Does Andy Burnham have a plan? The new Prime Minister may have announced his intention to unveil a ten-year programme for the country, but beyond domestic politics, both he and his inexperienced Foreign Secretary, Ed Miliband, have said little when it comes to the elephant in the room: foreign policy. This silence can only last for so long. The question of what Britain ought to do about the increasingly acute threat from Beijing cannot be pushed to one side forever.
The Starmer government’s policy on China was not just disastrous; it was non-existent. The China audit, due to happen after Sir Keir took office in July 2024, was swept under the carpet, never to be seen or heard of again. Instead, Starmer’s approach was tantamount to appeasement. In succumbing to the middle kingdom’s economic coercion, Britain shied away from criticising its fourth-largest trading partner. As Beijing gained more and more get-out-of-jail-free cards, it gleefully continued to undermine global security.
There is no more urgent time than the present for Britain to take the China threat seriously
As we wait for the new government’s foreign policy agenda, we must remember that in politics, continuity over change is not always a good thing. Jonathan Powell, Starmer’s geopolitically illiterate National Security Adviser who spearheaded the campaign to give Britain’s strategic asset of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, has asserted his ‘duty’ to stay on. This is a man who suppressed the China audit, which would have seen a significant investigation into Chinese espionage. An unholy cabal of government and legal officials was all-too willing to trade away sovereignty and geopolitical security, not least for financial gain.
What is more, during his time as secretary for energy security and the notorious net zero, the now-foreign secretary pushed for greater Chinese investment in the UK. The toxic cocktail of Miliband’s lack of foreign policy experience coupled with Powell remaining in post risks repeating Britain’s foreign policy annus horribilis of last year.
Of course, credit must be given where it is due. After England’s shambolic loss against Argentina in the World Cup semi-final, it was only right for Downing Street to clarify that although the coup de monde will not be in our hands for at least another four years, the Falkland Islands would be. That said, it was more than a pity that No. 10’s statement did not extend to the Chagos Islands.
Beijing was hardly quiet when it came to expressing its views about Burnham’s coronation. On Friday, an editorial in the China Daily praised Burnham’s ‘global awareness’ of China following his visits in 2018 and 2019. The Chinese Communist party mouthpiece wrote how ‘in Andy Burnham, the UK has a prime minister whose past record with China may help make that relationship even more important in the future’.
Yesterday morning, another Chinese state media outlet, the Global Times, broadcast a scarcely impartial opinion piece from an academic at Beijing Foreign Studies University, who asserted that ‘the Chinese market remains a necessity that British businesses cannot afford to abandon’. This is ultimately what Beijing wants to do to its trading partners near and far: economic bullying.
If Burnham wishes to ensure that Britain regains its stability, as he argued in his first prime ministerial address, then that must include Britain’s place in the world. Here, the new Prime Minister should take two steps – both of which are highly unlikely: firstly, confine the Chagos Islands deal to the dustbin of history and send a signal to Beijing that London is not for turning. Secondly, London’s green light to Beijing to construct its super-embassy on the former site of the Royal Mint in Tower Hamlets should be swiftly changed to red.
There is no more urgent time than the present for Britain to take the China threat seriously. Only one recent prime minister – Liz Truss – actively considered the responsible prospect of decoupling from China with respect to sensitive technologies, whilst de-risking more broadly. Importantly, too, Beijing does not act alone. The triad of China, North Korea, and Russia (whilst each with their own foreign policies) continues to paralyse global security. A Burnham premiership which kowtows to Beijing will be music to the ears of Xi Jinping, Vladimir Putin, and Kim Jong Un, a melody which will only affirm Britain’s declining global status.
Last week, as Princess Anne made her first visit to South Korea since the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics, another three-day sojourn was taking place. Xi’s top political strategist, Wang Huning, met Kim Jong Un in Pyongyang to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance – China’s only defence treaty with another country. Despite North Korea’s newfound alliance with Russia, China’s willingness to cooperate with rogue states in weakening the Western-led international order knows no bounds.
Over the coming days, the unknown unknowns in Burnham’s premiership will (hopefully) become known unknowns and even known knowns. One reality that cannot be avoided is the double-edged sword of an increasingly interconnected world. As the dispatch of over 15,000 North Korean troops to fight the Kremlin’s war against Ukraine has shown, what is Asia’s problem is also Britain’s problem.
As Britain readies itself for a ten-year plan, Beijing is already on its 15th five-year plan. A Britain that prostrates itself before Beijing will face the consequences for years and decades to come. And it’s about time we realised this.
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