The United Kingdom must take a hard-headed, transactional approach to China, UK Chancellor of the Exchequers Rishi Sunak said in a statement on Monday on the sidelines of his keynote speech on Monday.
“I think with China we also need to be realistic and hard-headed and I’d say probably transactional in our approach to that relationship, rather than being starry-eyed about it. China is going to be a significant feature of the global economy, and only increasing in significance, so it would be wrong to ignore that,” he said at the online Conservative Party annual conference.
Tensions between London and Beijing have skyrocketed over the latter's national security bill in Hong Kong, which UK, US and European officials have criticised as allegedly violating the region's 'one country, two systems' agreement.
Relations soured further as Washington announce the UK and US are expected to sign a deal on artificial intelligence to counter China's rise as a global tech leader, citing concerns over alleged "authoritarianism and repression" in Beijing.
British culture secretary Oliver Dowden also announced in July London would ban Huawei Technologies from building UK telecom networks by 31 December.
Up to 11m homes and businesses as well as cause Britain to lose its place as the global leader in 5G, costing the economy over £41bn, the Centre for Policy Studies revealed in a report last week.
A further study from research firm Assembly found that the UK will lose roughly £173 in GDP due to its decision.