The UK has taken a tougher line with China since it imposed a new security law in Hong Kong that could see people with long prison terms for subversion. It also decided to ban Chinese tech firm Huawei from participating in the British 5G network for fear of security. Meanwhile, Britain has spoken out about alleged human rights abuses against the Uighur minority in northwest China.
“The UK is watching and everyone is watching,” said Raab. “We want a positive relationship with China. There is much to be gained for both countries. “
Raab said the United Kingdom was concerned that criminal suspects extradited to Hong Kong could be tried in mainland China under the new security law. He said the extradition agreement will be suspended indefinitely.
Under the arms embargo, there can be no exports from the UK to Hong Kong of potentially lethal weapons or anything that can be used for repression.
Raab added that more details on the route to British citizenship that the government has announced for Hongkones with British citizenship status abroad will be exposed this week.
The move comes when United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrives in London to meet Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Raab on Tuesday. The United States pressured the United Kingdom to take a more skeptical approach to China after Johnson in January decided to allow Huawei to build parts of the UK’s 5G network, before reversing that decision in July.
Previously, Johnson said that “he was not going to be pushed to become an instinctive synophobe on every issue, someone who is automatically anti-China.”
During a visit to the school, he said that the United Kingdom has “serious concerns” about the human rights problems in China, but that the Asian nation was “a giant fact of geopolitics” and that Britain should continue to commit to Beijing.
Conservative Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Tom Tugendhat welcomed the announcements on arms and extradition in the House of Commons, as did other Tory hawks on China and opposition MPs.
“This should mark the beginning of a more strategic approach for China based on an ethical approach to foreign policy and the end of the naivety of the Golden Age years,” said Shadow Foreign Secretary Lisa Nandy, noting the approach to China that happened. when David Cameron was prime minister.
