LONDON —
Britain’s two prime ministerial
contenders were set on Monday to go head-to-head for the first time in a
televised debate after a weekend of tough talking on China.
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In response to criticism by Conservative leadership
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Liz Truss, rival Rishi Sunak announced plans to crack down on
Beijing’s influence, calling it the “number-one threat” to domestic and global
security.
China’s state-run Global Times has previously said
former finance minister Sunak was the only candidate in the contest with “a
clear and pragmatic view on developing UK-China ties”.
The Daily Mail, which has come out for Foreign
Secretary Truss in the race to succeed Boris Johnson, called this “the
endorsement that nobody wanted”.
Sunak’s proposals include the closure of all 30
Confucius Institutes in Britain.
The Beijing-backed schools teach students about
Chinese language and culture, but critics argue they are propaganda fronts for
the
Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Sunak also promised to “kick the CCP out of our
universities”, by forcing higher education establishments to disclose foreign
funding of more than £50,000, and reviewing research partnerships.
Britain’s domestic spy agency MI5 would be used to
help combat Chinese espionage, and he would look to build “
NATO-style”
international cooperation to tackle Chinese threats in cyberspace.
China’s foreign ministry said in response that UK
politicians should not “talk about China at every turn and make irresponsible
remarks such as the so-called ‘China threat theory’, which cannot solve their
problems”.
‘Magic money tree’
Truss has accused Sunak of
being soft on both
China and
Russia when he was finance minister, after he
reportedly raised economic concerns when Johnson pushed for tough sanctions
following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
His toughened line on China came ahead of Monday’s
BBC television debate, to be held at 9pm (8pm GMT), as he looks to claw ground
back from Truss.
Opinion polls put her well ahead among the roughly
200,000 grassroots Tory members who will decide the contest, after she and
Sunak emerged as the run-off candidates in a series of votes by MPs.
The winner will be announced on September 5.
Truss has vowed
immediate tax cuts while Sunak has stressed the need to tame decades-high
inflation first, as both candidates claim to be the political heirs of 1980s
prime minister Margaret Thatcher.
The main opposition Labor party, which is leading in
polls but may have to wait until 2024 for the next general election, is looking
to capitalize on fallout from the bitter Tory battle.
In a speech Monday, Labor leader Keir Starmer said
Sunak was “the architect of the cost-of-living crisis” while Truss was “the
latest graduate from the school of magic money tree economics”.
He added their BBC debate would showcase “a clear
contrast between my Labor party and the Thatcherite cosplay on display”.
‘State-based threat’
The candidates’ foreign
policy stances will likely feature in the primetime TV event, alongside a raft
of domestic issues.
Truss has similarly urged a tougher approach to
adversaries, calling for the G7 to become an “economic NATO” against Chinese
threats and warning Beijing of sanctions if it does not play by international
rules.
Her allies hit out at Sunak for not doing more when
he was chancellor of the exchequer, before his resignation earlier this month
over Johnson’s scandal-hit leadership helped spark the downfall of the outgoing
premier.
“Over the last two years, the treasury has pushed
hard for an economic deal with China ... despite China brutally cracking down
on peaceful democracy campaigners in Hong Kong, threatening Taiwan, illegally
occupying the South China Sea, committing genocide on the
Uyghurs,” said former
Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith.
“After such a litany, I have one simple question:
where have you been over the last two years?”
But Truss was also in Johnson’s cabinet when
intelligence agencies repeatedly warned of China’s influence.
In March last year, the government’s “integrated
review” of security, defense, and foreign policy called China “the biggest
state-based threat to the UK’s economic security”.
But the review also stressed the need for engagement
on trade and investment.
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