Once upon a time Britain would have sent a gunboat up the Yangtze River. That would teach those Chinese a lesson. To hear some MPs talk about Beijing’s espionage activities, you would think gunboats were already on their way.
Except we don't have any that work anymore. And even if we did, we'd not have anyonr with the balls to use them.
Rishi Sunak was quick to the fray. “We’ve been very clear that the situation now is that China is behaving in an increasingly assertive way abroad, authoritarian at home, and it represents an epoch-defining challenge, and also the greatest state-based threat to our economic security,” he said. “So, it’s right that we take measures to protect ourselves, which is what we are doing.” That was clear. It was also ridiculous.
Oh? Is the threat not real? What other reason could you have for being so sanguine about a foreign power's attempt to subvert our country's sovreignty?
Iain Duncan Smith, the former Tory leader, who is said to have been targeted alongside other parliamentarians in the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, was also blunt. China is not just a challenge to us, he said. It must be framed as a threat. “As they grow in power and potency, we are shrinking before them,” he said.
Seems real to me! So why would a red-blooded Englishman not feel the need to imitate the action of the tiger, stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood...?
Today the world’s relations with China are in one area crucial. That country is responsible for more than a quarter of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, and rising. Britain is now actively participating in China’s proposed “greening” of its BRI programme, which is largely about infrastructure. Given that a third of all greenhouse gas emissions are from construction – a fact still ignored by British planning policy – this collaboration with China is central to fighting the climate crisis.
Oh. Of course. The modern beta male's response when faced with a threat. A drawn-out whine of 'But..but global warming!'.
... a sense of proportion remains the hardest but most necessary quality to maintain in international relations. We are told daily that global heating is the greatest threat now facing the world. Unless that applies only before lunch, then it should surely lie at the centre of all relations with China.
We'd have trouble facing up to China if it came to a shooting war, Simon. What chance do you think we'd stand against that huge ball of hydrogen in the firmament?
