Labour can no longer condone our relationship with oppressive China
We know that the Chinese Communist Party hid the true scale of the COVID crisis and failed to inform the world of the realities of the disease. COVID-19, and the 60,000 dead here in the UK, has taught the world that China cannot be trusted, argues Brendan Chilton.
Labour has led the way in raising awareness of the brutality of the Chinese Communist Party under our superb Shadow Foreign Secretary, Lisa Nandy. From the crushing of democracy in Hong Kong, to the occupation of Tibet, and the persecution of the Uyghur people in Xinjang, the Chinese Communist Party's actions have appalled the world. Labour has been right to call out these abuses and to challenge the influence of the Chinese state here in the UK and around the world. It is imperative that we continue to do so.
China is a superpower but its malign influence in the world is cause for great concern. The UK cannot counterbalance China alone, but by deploying our old tried and tested method of uniting other powers together, in a grand alliance of democracies we can mitigate Chinese Communist influence and control. In this endeavour, we should seek support from our allies in the Commonwealth: Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Brunei and Malaysia. All of whom are within range of China and fear their growing prowess and intimidating expansionist measures in the South China Sea. We must also look to India, with whom we have an old relationship, and assist them to resist Chinese intrusions into their territory and dominance in Asia.
Successive British Prime Ministers have pressed China on its appalling human rights record. It is important to note that the Chinese Communist Party refuses to recognise trade unions and workers rights. There is no democracy and the state executes thousands of people every year. Women are treated as second-class citizens. Despite this, previous Conservative Prime Ministers, most notably, David Cameron led the United Kingdom towards China without so much as batting an eyelid over the fascist behaviour of that country. We should also remember how Boris Johnson courted Chinese officials and business leaders during his tenure in city hall. Their combined measures weakened Britain and left us exposed at a critical time. Were it not for the stance taken by Labour and other MP's, Huawei would still be granted access to the UK's 5G network under this conservative government.
Covid-19 and the 60,000 dead here in the UK, has taught us and the world that China cannot be trusted as a reliable ally. We know that the Communist Party hid the true scale of the Covid crisis and did not inform the world of the realities of the disease. As a result nearly 17 million people have become infected and over 650,000 are dead with some of the poorest countries in the world suffering the most. The world is entering one of the deepest recessions, with hundreds of billions being wiped off the world's exchanges; mass unemployment and poverty are ahead. The prospects for a generation risk being destroyed.
As a result, China is not a friend of the UK. The next Labour government, led by Sir Keir Starmer must make tackling China a key priority. The next Labour government ought to commit to reducing our strategic dependency on China as a key priority and diversify our supply chains. We must explore possibilities through trade deals and special relationships with democracies in the region, and other nations on whom we can rely. No previous Labour government would have ever permitted the UK to be placed under the influence or malign control of the Soviet Union, the world's last great Communist dictatorship. No future Labour government should permit the Chinese Communist dictatorship to have sway in the future.
The political battle between east and west is being fought out at present in Africa. The Chinese Communist Party is having a terrible impact on African countries with the pillaging of natural resources, unfair contractual arrangements, the poor treatment of workers and the substandard nature of work being undertaken will have lasting negative effects on the continent, not to mention their disregard of rules at the WTO. The next Labour government has key role to play in driving Chinese influence out of Africa. The next Labour government must strengthen our relationship with Commonwealth countries in Africa and work to secure alternative investment tools to support those countries to counter Chinese influence.
We are heading towards a position where within a decade or so an aggressive Communist Dictatorship with the record outlined in this article will be the preeminent power in the world. The next Labour government, along with our allies need to determine whether that is acceptable. If totalitarian regimes are seen to be the leaders of the world what dire consequences will that have for western democracy and liberalism and the general progress of humanity. It is a critical point that we must determine a position towards. Labour is the party of internationalism, democracy, peace, equality, environmentalism and social justice and therefore it cannot be compatible for Labour to be comfortable with such a position coming to fruition.
