X Close

We’ve cosied up to China for too long Let's wean ourselves off dependence on the undemocratic leviathan and forge new global alliances

David Cameron pays for drinks as China's president, Xi Jinping, drinks a pint of beer during a visit to the The Plough in Princes Risborough, in 2015 (Photo by Kirsty Wigglesworth - WPA Pool/Getty Images)

David Cameron pays for drinks as China's president, Xi Jinping, drinks a pint of beer during a visit to the The Plough in Princes Risborough, in 2015 (Photo by Kirsty Wigglesworth - WPA Pool/Getty Images)


April 9, 2020   5 mins

How do you solve a problem like China? Since the outbreak of Covid-19 and its development into a global pandemic, we have heard increasingly loud calls for a “reckoning” with Beijing.

It is beyond doubt that a reckoning is merited. Since the SARS outbreak in 2002, virologists have warned that the “large reservoir” of viruses in horseshoe bats, along with the Chinese custom of eating exotic mammals and using them for traditional medicines, has been “a time bomb” for the world’s health. Yet not only did China do nothing to clamp down on this danger before Covid-19, it has done nothing since.

The only state action in China’s notorious wet markets since they reopened has been the recruitment of security guards to stop visitors taking photographs of the insanitary conditions.

While many of the West’s useful idiots have praised the scale and speed of the Chinese response to the outbreak, we know that Beijing’s first response was to deny there was a problem and silence the medics who tried to blow the whistle. In those vital days, millions of people left Wuhan, the centre of the outbreak, making it inevitable coronavirus would become an international danger. China refused to engage with the World Health Organisation and left other countries guessing the characteristics of the virus. Now, its diplomats and state-backed media outlets are spreading fake news, claiming coronavirus began in Italy or America.

This behaviour should not come as a surprise to anybody who has watched Beijing since China was allowed into the world’s system of international trade. China has abused liberal trading rules by over-producing goods and dumping them on other markets. It has engaged in mass industrial espionage. It has set debt traps for other countries to win leverage over them. The prosperity earned through trade has not made its state more liberal or democratic, but even more oppressive. It has developed technologies made possible by international trade and used them to control its people. And it has abused the openness of other economies to undercut rival businesses and blackmail governments.

So a reckoning is not only deserved, but long overdue. The question is, what can we actually do?

There are limits, of course. China is a world power, with a population of about 1.4 billion people. It has nuclear weapons and a military with more than two million active personnel. Its Belt and Road Initiative spans 65 countries, covers more than 60% of the world’s population, and involves investment plans reportedly worth $900 billion. It owns more than $1 trillion of US public debt, and has made itself a vital investor not only in the British economy but in our critical national infrastructure.

But this does not mean we can do nothing. By our own actions, and by working in concert with our friends and allies, there is plenty Britain can do to protect our citizens and interests from China’s actions.

The most immediate step should be to reverse the decision to allow Huawei, the Chinese telecommunications company, to run parts of Britain’s new 5G network. Whatever ministers and officials have convinced themselves, Huawei is not some benign company from a conventional market economy. It is subsidised by Beijing’s autocratic, communist regime so it can find its way into the most sensitive parts of other countries’ critical national infrastructure. Britain should change policy so – like the United States, Australia and other security allies — we ban Huawei from our system.

Critics will argue that the alternatives to Huawei — Nokia and Ericsson — are unable to provide the same equipment and services, and relying on these Western companies will take longer and cost more. But if officials believe we have been forced to make this awful choice because of a broken market, this is an argument not for strengthening Huawei but for making sure we do not destroy the market share of Nokia, Ericsson and other Western firms. It means we need to overcome our adherence to free market ideology and, working with allied governments, reform the telecommunications market, invest in new entrants, and make sure the West has tech capabilities to rival and surpass China’s.

Telecommunications is only one part of our critical national infrastructure we should be thinking about. Chinese companies are now huge investors in Britain’s energy sector. They part-own Britain’s gas piping network, and are funding the construction of the nuclear power station at Hinkley Point. As part of the deal agreed by David Cameron and George Osborne, Hinkley is the first stage of China’s “progressive entry” into the British nuclear system, allowing them to take on operational functions in future plants at Sizewell and Bradwell. And of course, Beijing’s investment strategy comes with a bill attached. Not only are the returns on the Hinkley deal absurdly generous, China uses Britain’s dependence on its investment as leverage in diplomatic and geopolitical controversies. We need to limit this leverage and curtail China’s role in our infrastructure.

This requires a different approach to economic policy and, in particular, a new form of industrial strategy. The coronavirus crisis is showing us not only that over-dependence on countries like China is dangerous, but that we need to keep certain industrial capabilities closer to home. British researchers are playing their part in the global effort to find a coronavirus vaccine, for example, but Britain has precious little capacity to manufacture vaccines at scale.

If and when a vaccine is discovered, experts have warned that we will need to wait in the queue to get it. Similarly, one of the reasons Germany is so far ahead of Britain in its testing strategy is, ministers explain, that the Germans have Roche, one of the world’s biggest diagnostic companies. Britain’s smaller diagnostics firms are dependent on Germany and the United States for their supplies.

Overall we need to build greater national resilience and far more state capacity to protect us from danger. The NHS will need more investment and capacity, but so will other state services, such as border control, and key parts of our social infrastructure, such as local authorities. The Government’s defence review, which is now effectively on hold while the state puts all its efforts into fighting the pandemic, will need to reflect the beyond-obvious fact that China — more than Islamist terrorism or Russian or Iranian aggression — is the West’s greatest threat and strategic rival.

Together with our allies, we need to wean ourselves off our over-dependence on China, with more manufacturing production and assembly work shifting to other Asian countries, such as Vietnam, lower-cost European countries, such as Poland and Portugal, and back home in Britain. Both governments and businesses will need to shorten the stretched global supply chains that serve the modern economy.

Of course there are limits to what Britain can achieve alone and, like the rest of the West, we desperately need the United States to return to its role as the leader of the liberal democracies. Without stable and sensible American leadership, we are all weaker. We need to build new alliances with countries that share similar interests to our own. Japan and South Korea — prosperous democracies with neighbourly concerns about China — are obvious examples. As Tom Tugendhat, the Chairman of the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, points out, there is an opportunity for us to cooperate with what he calls the “new Indies”, independent states with an interest in the international rules-based order, including Japan and South Korea, but Chile, Kenya, Nigeria and others too.

And Britain can play an important role in forging a new multilateralism, in which the rise of new powers — not just China, but the likes of Brazil, India, Indonesia and Mexico — have the global voice they deserve. We can lead the creation of new institutions to ensure peaceful economic competition between East and West. And we can help to establish a new forum in which democratic governments can work together to regulate cyberspace and protect the internet from autocratic regimes. Predictably, China continues to seek a New Internet Protocol, which, in the name of “digital sovereignty”, would put the internet under the control of states. They must be stopped.

Compared with undemocratic states like China, it is often assumed that the democracies cannot act strategically and lack the state strength to get things done. But while there are many ways we can improve the way we are led, this is unnecessarily defeatist. Autocratic states lack legitimacy, democracies do not. They rely on fear, while we rely on our own choices to work with one another. They have alliances based on intimidation, while we have friendships based on shared values and interests. We will have to learn to live with an important and powerful China, but we must also learn to assert ourselves and protect ourselves from the very serious danger Beijing represents.

 

Nick Timothy is the author of ‘Remaking One Nation: The Future of Conservatism’ (Polity)

 


Nick Timothy is a former Downing Street chief of staff and comment writer for the Daily Telegraph

NJ_Timothy

Join the discussion


Join like minded readers that support our journalism by becoming a paid subscriber


To join the discussion in the comments, become a paid subscriber.

Join like minded readers that support our journalism, read unlimited articles and enjoy other subscriber-only benefits.

Subscribe
Subscribe
Notify of
guest

20 Comments
Most Voted
Newest Oldest
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Linda Brown
Linda Brown
4 years ago

The idea of letting China access to any part of the 5G network is the biggest mistake since Phiby, Maclean, Blunt, Burgess and Cairncross worked for British Intelligence. You might as well just hand them National Security files along with any technological/scientific innovations.

Fraser Bailey
Fraser Bailey
4 years ago

Well, yes, and some of us came to this conclusion some years ago. As always, the politicians and the press are years behind. And they wonder why we don’t vote and refuse to pay for their ‘content’.

Alana Clarke
Alana Clarke
4 years ago
Reply to  Fraser Bailey

Couldn’t agree more with your comment!

Sarah Lambert
Sarah Lambert
4 years ago
Reply to  Fraser Bailey

ooh! Yes. I live very little money but do try to buy French ( I live in France).We are are paying for those that want cheap. No matter their income.

johntshea2
johntshea2
4 years ago

A generally forthright and provocative article, but:-

“Of course there are limits to what Britain can achieve alone and, like the rest of the West, we desperately need the United States to return to its role as the leader of the liberal democracies. Without stable and sensible American leadership, we are all weaker.”

Implying President Trump and the US government are illiberal, unstable and lack sense. Nick Timothy is far from alone in that critique, of course, but it is President Trump’s “liberal”, “stable” and “sensible” predecessors who created our dependence on China and still condemn President Trump’s tariffs on Chinese imports, for example. Free trade is a very useful tool and a good servant, but a bad master.

Carolyn Jackson
Carolyn Jackson
4 years ago
Reply to  johntshea2

Wasn’t it Clinton who talked about China’s “favoured nation” status, and moved US jobs over there because of the cheaper workforce?

Clive Higgins
Clive Higgins
4 years ago

There is a relatively simple question here, WHo has the upper hand, the manufacturer or the buyer. Chinas overwhelming weakness is that it has an economy dependent of the exploitation of cheap labour. A UK Govenment policy of strategic import substitution and a refusal to incorporate the likes of Huawei in to our core infrastructure would be simple to introduce.

Rafael Aguilo
Rafael Aguilo
4 years ago

The Western consumer fell for the trap of cheap products, and GAVE away a lot of its manufacturing base to China in exchange. The pied piper is now knocking at the door to collect.

Gerry Fruin
Gerry Fruin
4 years ago

A reasonable analysis and many people would support your comments. I do wonder if after decades of weak, spineless politicians and a crass personality obsessed media the current appalling covid situation might just might make a positive impact.
First; clear out the hysterical elements of the attention seeking celebrity media luvies. Dismantle the BBC is at the top of the list.
Second; Now our politicians finally look and sound the part If the opposition can grow up and play their part we could be making progress.
Third; We are not a world leader any more, accept it.
Four; Look to what we can do and invest in it for everyone. Grow more of our own food. Yes it may cost more but it will be reliable. R and D can be developed and the list of work that we can excel at is limitless.
Five; Most important of all, care for our own. A point that is never discussed is that if the State paid all the people who work unpaid as carers, the country would be broke overnight. In the care for everyone our system we are abismal.
There is a once in a lifetime chance to make a real change. I hope we do.

David Radford
David Radford
4 years ago

I really hope Gerry is right. LBJ had a maxim that it was better to have a potential adversary inside the tent pee-ing out than outside it pee-ing in. It’s far too simplistic to apply this to China’s dealings,with the rest of us- they can be inside when it suits and outside at the same time. That’s the autocracy bonus. As Gerry says, the current crisis may help, let’s see.

S D
S D
4 years ago

There is a petition to review the Huawei decision, please click on the link below or google “Petition To block Huawei equipment to be used in 5G network” and sign up.
https://petition.parliament

Fraser Bailey
Fraser Bailey
4 years ago

We need to wake up. China is like Nazi Germany to the power of 20. There are rumours that in Wuhan they were putting people into body bags and dispatching them to the furnaces while they were still alive. As I said, these are rumours. But a system that practices organ harvesting on a mass scale, possibly while the victim is conscious, is capable of anything.

Lee Richardson
Lee Richardson
4 years ago

Just look at the global university population… not least here in the UK. Bleeding quality education and knowledge to be reverse engineered against the west…

Mark Corby
Mark Corby
4 years ago

Nick Timothy’s excellent essay does not go far enough. China is a clear and present danger to the Western civilisation. It is a Darwinian imperative that it is destroyed, if our grandchildren are to have any meaningful future.
To quote from the late Roman writer Vegetius, “if you wish for peace, prepare for war”.
China will not implode, like its feeble alma mater, the Soviet Union. It is hell bent on reversing the humiliation of the Opium Wars and the subsequent ‘Unequal Treaties’. It feels it’s time has come.
Compared to the War on Terror/Islam, the destruction of China will be an immense task, but every moment of delay will only make it harder. Currently, the US has an enormous military advantage, and it would be suicidal to squander this.
To plagiarise another Roman, Cato the Elder,”China must be destroyed!”

Clive Mitchell
Clive Mitchell
4 years ago
Reply to  Mark Corby

There is no chance of a war against China. The idea of attacking a nation of China’s size and military capability, is suicidal. It would be the end of the West.

Fortunately it won’t happen.

Mark Corby
Mark Corby
4 years ago
Reply to  Clive Mitchell

Nonsense. A comparative analysis of the respective military capabilities will show you that the US is a Titan and China a Pygmy!
All that is required is the will. Lack of moral fibre just will not do, if our grandchildren are to have any meaningful future. It is time to wake up!

Martyn Hole
Martyn Hole
4 years ago

A game we played at uni was making anagrams of people’s names. WFH and surrounded by jigsaws and various board games, I dug out the Scrabble set and had a go at Norah Dean and Louise Lowry, possibly the two most deranged posts I have ever seen (and I subscribe to the Speccie…..) I got “Aha Norden” for the first, which is appropriate, welcoming one of the best comedy writers of the 20th. Century (that’s Denis not Graham Norton). For the second, I got “O, you’re swill” (forgive the extra apostrophe.)

Where to start ? Alan Crockford nailed the “protect all citizens” shibboleth and as for the article’s author, his “racism” seems finely honed to basically the Han Chinese (note he suggested closer ties with Indonesia, Vietnam, Japan, S. Korea and other Emerging Economies.)

Louise Lowry
Louise Lowry
4 years ago

I could not disagree more with this article apart from the fact the ghastly virus did appear to have originated in the wet market in Wuhan, which actually really is terrible Most of our universities rely on having Chinese students, most of the goods we buy are made in China. UK has dumbed down its science teaching over the years so we have returned to being a nation of shopkeepers and shoppers. We are nowhere near self sufficient in producing our own food. And then we voted to leave the EU.
China & South Korea have very different governments and I do agree that China is not a democracy, but what they share is the will to protect all their citizens even the very aged unlike UK and USA who initially were pursuing herd immunity policies resulting in the deaths of many old and infirm people ,who were to be sacrificed for the good of the economy What China & S,Korea share are public . health services providing free care and testing, Both countries have sophisticated apps allow tracing of the spread of the virus. It is possible that the quantum computers that China is developing allow them to do this for their very large population. Of course after the virus is conquered this will be a threat to personal freedom , but then so is google,
Actually Germany did not rely on Roche as the Guardian explained. I fear that the death toll in UK will make no country very keen to do business with us as we will have demonstrated by our inability to save our citizens . It is seldom the weaker country that sets the terms for any trade deal.
I could be wrong and hope that the UK death toll is not greater than all other G20 countries.as well as the heartbreak caused, it will shame our country, I am one of the over 70s with underlying health problems so am a little biased !

alun Crockford
alun Crockford
4 years ago
Reply to  Louise Lowry

China protects it citizens?
Interesting take on the treatment of the Uighar population, the people of Tibet and anyone who might not share the same outlook as the CCP. I might add that the rest of your post has the same curious interpretation of the facts,

Carolyn Jackson
Carolyn Jackson
4 years ago
Reply to  Louise Lowry

China doesn’t and never has protected its citizens. The only reason our universities rely on Chinese students is because we have too many universities, many of them offering pointless degrees, and they need bums on seats. Return some of them back to technical colleges or colleges of further education, or Polytechnics, and have only useful degrees on offer in universities. You are a doom and gloom merchant.