Britain's Courting of China Is Raising Concerns
- 9 years ago
The sound of trumpets and hooves echoed through the park beside Buckingham Palace on Tuesday morning, as hundreds of guards on horseback rode in a procession to welcome the Chinese President Xi Jinping to London for a state visit this week.
The splendid welcome is a reflection of Britain's recent, rather overt, fawning over China in an attempt to build stronger economic relations, a move that has some Western allies wondering if Britain is becoming too close.
Britain's wooing of the Chinese is an unusual break from the West's more standoffish approach, say experts, and it comes at a time of particular concern, as China cracks down on domestic access to the Internet, and tussles with the U.S. over cyber attacks on U.S. companies and aggressive movement in the South China Sea.
Britain's overtures to the Chinese-led largely by George Osborne, Britain's equivalent of a treasury secretary - started in earnest in March when Britain made a point of becoming the first Western country and only member of the G-7, to join the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank, China's rival to the Washington-based World Bank.
The splendid welcome is a reflection of Britain's recent, rather overt, fawning over China in an attempt to build stronger economic relations, a move that has some Western allies wondering if Britain is becoming too close.
Britain's wooing of the Chinese is an unusual break from the West's more standoffish approach, say experts, and it comes at a time of particular concern, as China cracks down on domestic access to the Internet, and tussles with the U.S. over cyber attacks on U.S. companies and aggressive movement in the South China Sea.
Britain's overtures to the Chinese-led largely by George Osborne, Britain's equivalent of a treasury secretary - started in earnest in March when Britain made a point of becoming the first Western country and only member of the G-7, to join the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank, China's rival to the Washington-based World Bank.