Britain's Pursuit of Cold War is Dangerous

Last week British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss pursued a highly provocative speech at a London event where she took aim at both Russia and China. The speech was typical of Liz, in that it sought to frame global politics as a zero-sum ideological struggle between democracy and authoritarianism, of which she likes to describe as a “network of liberty”. Yet, it went further than previous addresses that it was intentionally more aggressive and sought to demand that China “play by the rules” stating that its rise was “not inevitable”, with Truss also vowing to involve the UK and NATO in the Taiwan region. Arguably, it is the most single aggressive address ever given by a British foreign secretary concerning Beijing.

British Foreign Policy since Brexit has been premised on an effective delusion, that is the nostalgia of a long-gone era whereby “Britannia ruled the waves” and wielded the power of a global empire of which allowed it to impose its will on others. China of course is no stranger to that legacy. With the opium wars, Britain opened what Chinese people understand as the “century of humiliation” when European powers learnt they could use their growing military might to force political and economic concessions on a declining Qing Dynasty. Liz Truss clearly believes that London is capable of doing the same thing to China again, and is hungry for confrontation with Beijing.

But none of this fiery rhetoric has any basis in reality. The world has changed, and circumstances are no longer favourable for the UK. Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union was a self-inflicted wound which has had a huge detrimental impact on the economy across the board. It has created supply shortages, labour shortages, added to burgeoning in inflation and severely hurt services too. This has coupled with surging energy prices and shrinking standards of living. The truth is that in lieu of Brexit, Britain’s economic relationship with China is of critical importance and Boris Johnson had long understood this and made it clear. The United Kingdom cannot afford to distance itself from the largest consumer market and trading nation on Earth.

However, the Prime Minister is increasingly struggle for influence with these ultra-hawks within the Conservative Party who are attempting to mould Brexit into a broader ideological and civilizational struggle in the name of Anglophone exceptionalism. These people, such as Liz Truss, do not base Britain’s economic and trade interests on empirical realities see it also as an extension of identity politics and Imperial nostalgia. They argue that Britain should be primarily trading with the nations of the Anglosphere (Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States) as well as of course India, which Britain also heralds a post-colonial nostalgia towards, and not of course on the actual merits of what these countries can contribute to Britain.

For example, according to House of Commons Research, Britain’s “free trade agreement” with Australia will only increase GDP by 0.08% per annum (which also has been widely criticized for undermining British agriculture), illustrating the bizarre decision making of the British government premising trade on identity and economic reality. Whereas China, which has a bilateral trade with Britain in terms of ￡100 billion per annum, is seemingly off limits. If it wasn’t clear already, post-Brexit Britain is harbouring a foreign policy which is based purely on nationalistic sentiment and Imperial good feeling, and as a result has no coherent grasp of the country’s strategic realities or national interest, leading to self-destructive decision making. As an old saying goes: “the lunatics are in charge of the Asylum”.

Despite the deep interdependence and mutual self-interest of the British-China relationship, there is nothing that could be more offensive to the Chinese people themselves to a Britain roleplaying its Imperial past and believing that it has the right to bring China to keel, there is a political will in Beijing that history won’t be allowed to repeat itself. China is the 2nd largest economy in the world with a GDP estimated over $17 trillion, whilst the UK is a stagnating country whose future prosperity will hinge upon access to its markets. If Britain is to be truly “global” as its government markets its to be, then the sensible choice is to step back from the brink, regain control of its foreign policy from the United States, and engage with China on pragmatic, realistic and independent terms. Fanatical Cold War chauvinism will undermine decades worth of progress.

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