PM Boris Johnson resigns, FAC on future of technology and China, new Critical Minerals centre
A Beijing to Britain briefing
Hello,
The era of Boris Johnson comes to an end. The Prime Minister’s administration, heaving under the weight of deceit, decay and disloyalty, finally collapsed on itself in the early hours of Thursday morning. As this Briefing went to press, just shy of ten candidates had declared their aim to run for leader of the Conservative party. Never one to put her own ambitions above the needs of her country, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss even cut short her G20 visit in Indonesia to fly back and prepare her leadership pitch. Not one to be trumped, it was revealed that former Chancellor Rishi Sunak appears to have registered his campaign website, ReadyForRishi, last year. Across Westminster deals are being drawn, donors contacted, policies plotted.
Of course, only one of them will win, and by default become Prime Minister. Beijing to Britain will be the only company producing a briefing on each serious contender’s views on China in the coming weeks, with further bespoke research available. For firms and individuals operating in this space, it will be essential to understand what these views are, as they will dictate the UK’s relationship with Beijing going forward. But for now, two things are almost certain - UK-China relations will not be going back to the Golden Era, and China will likely feature throughout this leadership contest. There is great chaos under heaven - the situation is excellent.
In the City, we would draw your attention to the newly launched Critical Minerals Intelligence Centre, which will work with Government and the private sector to assess supply chain woes. Elsewhere, industrialists and lobbyists should read with interest remarks given to the Business Committee on the differences between the American and British Government’s attempts to attract top semiconductor talent, largely uncovered given events elsewhere this week. Finally, we look at the annual results of a Trust with a wider-Asia focus.
Welcome to ‘Beijing to Britain’ - a weekly overview of the ebbs and flows of the discussion in Westminster and the City around the UK’s relationship with China, and how it impacts politics, the private sector and society.
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