Source · Select Committees · Foreign Affairs Committee
Recommendation 5
5
Paragraph: 6
An increasingly assertive and revisionist China has created geo-political friction with a more introspective United...
Conclusion
An increasingly assertive and revisionist China has created geo-political friction with a more introspective United States. China and Russia, as leading authoritarian and revisionist powers, have also been more adept than their ideological rivals at realising where their capacity for international influence lies and harnessing the full spectrum of such capabilities.
Paragraph Reference:
6
Government Response
Not Addressed
HM Government
Not Addressed
4.1 We agree that there is increasing geo-political friction. The open international order that the UK co-founded 75 years ago is being contested. The UK is committed to the international system and the global order that has underpinned our mutual prosperity for decades. We want to strengthen it, ensure it works for future generations and ensure it is not remade or revised in ways that would undermine our interests, or the stability of the international system. 4.2 We agree that Russia has developed its “hybrid threat” capabilities and is increasingly willing to use them. Assassination attempts and cyber-attacks are examples of Russia’s persistent malign activity. The UK has been at the forefront of efforts to demonstrate that there are consequences to these actions including working to put in place new capabilities such as EU and UK cyber sanctions regimes. Our Russia Strategy aims to balance the need for essential engagement with Russia with our work with international partners to protect the national security interests of the UK and its allies, and defend the international system. The Salisbury response showed how robust and active we can be, not just at home but internationally, in standing up firmly to Russia. 4.3 China is a significant member of the international community. Its size, rising economic power and influence make it an important partner and there are wide-ranging opportunities for us to work together, from increasing trade to cooperation in science and innovation, and tackling climate change. But as a democracy with a free society and an open economy, we must have a calibrated approach. It is precisely because we recognise China’s role in the world that we expect China to live up to its international obligations and international responsibilities and we will hold China to account when it does not. There will be matters on which the UK cannot agree or compromise with China, for example on human rights or Hong Kong. We are clear where we disagree, and we will be tough where our values, our security or the integrity of the international system are being undermined.