The warning last week by Sir Stephen Lovegrove, the UK’s National Security Adviser, that we are already locked in a battle with countries whose ideologies of oppressive government threaten us, was incredibly timely. Britain needs to wake up now.
Unfortunately, after the end of the Cold War, too many Western countries assumed that democracy, the rule of law, and human rights had won forever, and that all totalitarian states would eventually succumb to the lure of the free market. This complacency is why we failed to see the Russian invasion of Ukraine coming. It also led at Westminster to the dreaded China policy known as the ‘Golden Age’, in which the UK sought greater trade with Beijing regardless of human rights and security concerns. This might be better described as Project Kowtow.
Today, while we are rightly focused on helping Ukraine fight for its sovereignty, it is also time to recognize that China poses the greatest security threat to the West. Not just because it is the second largest economy in the world – it finances one of the most powerful military machines – but, more fundamentally, because of who its rulers are and what they believe.
Beijing is militarizing the South China Seas in defiance of the UN. He scrapped the Sino-British Hong Kong agreement and jailed journalists and peaceful democracy activists. He has placed over a quarter of a million Tibetans in forced labor camps. President Xi also seems to be trying to suppress an entire ethnic group, the Uyghurs. This apparent genocide included the forced sterilization of women while moving their children to re-education camps and their men to slave labor (too often producing products for Western consumption).
To this indictment we must add their threat to invade the island of Taiwan. This should be taken with the utmost seriousness as they build military and diplomatic capacity for action.
Europe’s hopeless addiction to Russian energy in recent months has given Vladimir Putin a powerful weapon. Yet our dependence on China is of an order of magnitude greater—and far more destructive—than that. We are talking not only about cheap products, but also about most computers that are produced there, as well as smartphones, batteries and electric cars. Never forget that China owns 80 percent of the world’s rare earth materials and has the largest production facilities in the world. These materials are the oil of the 21st century, without which most of the technologies we rely on daily would grind to a halt.
Under previous British governments, the response to these warnings was uneven. But recently Whitehall has also shown a reassuring willingness to change its stance. Liz Truss played a key role here. As International Trade Secretary, she began rebuilding the vital Pacific alliances needed to counter China. Last December, she also led the G7 to call out China’s economic coercion, urging allies to do more to protect Taiwan and condemn the Uyghur genocide.
And yet, during the same period, surprisingly, the leadership of the Treasury Department tried to revive the negotiations on an economic trade deal, which were suspended when China scrapped the Hong Kong treaty. This was despite all the evidence of China’s continued brutal behavior and malicious intent. It was a serious mistake.
As one of the five politicians who, along with our families, have been sanctioned by the Chinese government for invoking its genocidal campaign, this is the critical question for me. Liz Truss’ strong stance and leadership on this issue is a key reason behind my support for her to be the next Prime Minister. She has rightly committed to prioritizing our security above all else – and she will make it crystal clear that we stand up for human rights, decency and, critically at this point, for Taiwan.
Too often we have been doomed to repeat the mistakes of history. Therefore, if we want to live a happy and peaceful life, we must learn to treat countries as they are, not as we wish them to be. Now is not the time to be weak on China.
Sir Ian Duncan Smith is the Conservative Member of Parliament for Chingford and Woodford Green
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