Sunak labels China the biggest threat to UK

Rishi Sunak has labelled China the "biggest long-term threat to Britain".

The man vying to be the next prime minister has promised to ban China's Confucius Institutes from the UK, which critics have labelled propaganda tools.

Sunak said China is "stealing our technology and infiltrating our universities".

He continued: “Abroad, they are propping up Putin’s fascist invasion of Ukraine by buying his oil and attempting to bully their neighbours, including Taiwan.

“They are saddling developing countries with insurmountable debt and using this to seize their assets or hold a diplomatic gun to their heads.

“They torture, detain and indoctrinate their own people, including in Xinjiang and Hong Kong, in contravention of their human rights. And they have continually rigged the global economy in their favour by suppressing their currency.”

As part of his leadership bid, he has pledged to lead the world in standing up to China's so-called “technological aggression”. He said he would implement an amendment to the Higher Education Bill that would force British universities to disclose any foreign funding partnerships of more than £50,000. He also pledged a review of all UK-Chinese research partnerships which might assist China technologically or have military applications, and committed to expanding MI5’s reach to provide greater support to British businesses and universities to counter alleged Chinese industrial espionage.

Sunak said: “I will stop China taking over our universities, and get British companies and public institutions the cyber-security they need. And I will work with president Biden and other world leaders to transform the West’s resilience to the threat China poses.”

Image: Pixabay