The United Kingdom’s Prime Minister has outright accused China and a group of other “axis of authoritarian states” including Russia of undermining Western security and values.
The address seems like the starting gun on a general election campaign for a vote that hasn’t even been announced yet and portrays the world as an increasingly hostile place needing strong British leadership, which despite all evidence to the contrary, Sunak claims he will provide.
‘Rejoicing in Beijing’ — Cameron’s Ties to Communist China Raise Conflict of Interest Questions https://t.co/c7O1Ss4wDA
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) November 14, 2023
While the speech was wide-ranging and hit a whole host of topics that would be expected from an election speech — including the economy, health service, and education — the Prime Minister repeatedly returned to security issues and military spending, apparently rejecting a truism long-held in Westminster that there are no votes in defence.
He said:
…because sadly we are living in the most dangerous time since the Cold War and I believe the next few years will be one of the most dangerous times our country has ever lived through, an Axis of authoritarian states; Iran, Russia, North Korea, China, acting in an assertive way that is threatening our values ang threatening our interests abroad and at home in a more interconnected world…
…I believe the next few years will be both the most dangerous that our country has experienced in a long time and the most transformational… everything that we’re seeing in the world from today, the last week, the last few months tells me that there’s an incredible dangerous time [coming].
Be Ready for War With China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea in Five Years, Warns UKhttps://t.co/5YoLgHZ423
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) January 16, 2024
The comments come just days after the British government all but accused China of hacking a Ministry of Defence database and stealing the private information of hundreds of thousands of past and present troops. All but accused being key because the government officially went no further than blaming the hack on the “suspected work of a malign actor”, while apparently briefing the friendly press behind closed doors that the perpetrator was China.
UK Ministry of Defence Hacked by China, Over Quarter Million Armed Service Members Impacted: Reportshttps://t.co/5oSKqJJzUy
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) May 7, 2024
First the Chinese Coronavirus lockdowns, then the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the Houthi Red Sea attacks exposed in stark terms for the first time in years the extreme dependence Western states have on exports of both finished products and raw materials. China is already the largest global trading partner for the European Union.
In 2020, a British government study found the country was reliant on China for 71 “critical goods” including drugs, electronics, and raw materials. ‘Project Defend’ was established in April 2020 as a “cross-government” project aiming to strengthen the resilience of the UK’s critical global supply chains”.
Reporting on its progress in January 2024, the government claimed “UK supplies of critical goods such as medicines, minerals and semiconductors will be safeguarded” and said it was working with major UK businesses to give them “regular updates on emerging supply chain risks”.
UK to Explore Self Sufficiency to End Reliance on China https://t.co/5d6ngNVI9d
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) May 25, 2020
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