Chinese submarine, Tory Conference, British diplomacy in Asia
A Beijing to Britain briefing
Hello,
I spent the early part of Monday morning sitting at a small, rickety table in the very far corner of a rather beautiful grand hall in central Manchester. Sipping a lukewarm coffee, I watched as people started to pile into the building, stopping at different kiosks and speaking to MPs, researchers, donors, and journalists: The Conservative Party Conference had kicked off. Unsurprisingly, discussions around foreign policy were confined to a handful of fringe events. Only one - The Spectator’s - focused explicitly on China, although there were others that looked at AUKUS, AI and cyber security.
It’s always interesting to see what gets picked up by journalists and what slips under the radar. For example, in a discussion with James Cleverly on The Spectator’s Chinese Whispers, the Foreign Secretary implied that one of the reasons the promise to remove Confucius Institutes from British universities had stalled was because of a fear of a reciprocal ban on the British Council in China - long suspected, but not admitted by senior officials so frankly before. No real coverage.
Likewise, when pushed by host Cindy Yu on details around the oft-mentioned China Capabilities Fund promised in the Government’s landmark foreign policy document, Cleverly revealed that departments will have to apply for the limited amount of money available. “You can spend money quickly, or you can spend money well”, said Cleverly - implying on some level that the United Kingdom can afford this either/or approach to building capacity. Again, didn’t cut through.
It’s hard not to wonder what the media coverage would have been like in America if the leading foreign policy official there had casually announced similar details. On the positive side, this was the first time in years a British Foreign Secretary has had to talk coherently about China at length.
Ultimately, those looking for signs that the Conservative Government has a coherent and joined-up approach to China will be left disappointed. Just a few doors down from where Cleverly was making his pitch - that engagement with China is in itself not a reward, but just basic diplomacy - his fellow Cabinet attending colleague, Security Minister Tom Tugendhat, told an audience that cooperation with the PRC is just “win win [which] means China wins twice.” The founder of the China Research Group concluded that “the Chinese state is nothing but an aggressive attacker on British business at the moment.” Oh well!
— Sam Hogg, Editor
In this week’s Briefing Note, we look at:
A roundup of Tory Conference China events
Which China events to go to at the Labour Conference
British diplomacy in the Asian region
Chinese submarine sunk
Poor results from a China-focused fund
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