If the growing rivalry between China and the US is set to define the geopolitics of the next century, then the UK is asleep at the wheel. Today, London finds itself caught between the two powers – trading blows in a technological Cold War – without so much as a plan. This failure has been years in the making; successive UK governments have approached relations with China, in particular, with an “indifference bordering on complacency”, according to Professor Kerry Brown, director of the Lau China Institute at King’s College London. This absence of clear, strategic thinking has contributed to damaging policy vacillation.
The UK government’s decision to strip Huawei from its 5G network is symptomatic of its haphazard approach. Boris Johnson’s administration attracted the ire of Washington for initially agreeing to a limited role for the Chinese telecommunications giant in the national network, before deciding to remove Huawei’s equipment completely by 2027. In response, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce stated that it would “take necessary measures” as a result of the “discriminatory” ban.
