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UK foreign secretary's remarks come under fire

By KARL WILSON in Sydney | China Daily Global | Updated: 2022-01-26 09:56

British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss walks outside Downing Street in London, Britain, Jan 25, 2022. [Photo/Agencies]

Former Australian prime minister Paul Keating and other analysts criticized British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss over her remarks that China could engage in military aggression in the Pacific, describing Truss' comments as "not simply irrational "but "demented".

In a scathing opinion piece published on Jan 23, Keating also said that the United Kingdom "suffers delusions of grandeur and relevance deprivation", and that it would not be taken seriously as a player in the Indo-Pacific region.

Writing for the public policy online journal Pearls and Irritations, Keating said "the reality is Britain does not add up to a row of beans when it comes to East Asia".

Truss and UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace traveled to Australia last week to take part in defense and security talks with their Australian counterparts. The talks included discussions on Australia's decision to buy eight nuclear-powered submarines, either from the UK or the United States.

The three nations recently formed a new security alliance called AUKUS, aiming to share defense and intelligence data with a focus on China.

Truss' comments were seen by analysts as adding to the Cold War hysteria coming from Washington and Canberra and primarily aimed at China and its perceived influence in the Asia-Pacific region.

James Laurenceson, director of the Australia-China Relations Institute at the University of Technology Sydney, said: "Talk that the world can be divided into democratic and nondemocratic states, or those that have 'liberty' and those that don't, doesn't match reality."

He said he has become increasingly convinced that Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison sees simplistic, tough talk on China as "a useful strategy to deflect from domestic political problems".

"Now Britain is out of Europe and trying to carve out a place for itself on the global stage, (so) its leaders, too, might see advantage from taking the same approach," Laurenceson said.

Colin Mackerras, a leading Australian Sinologist and professor emeritus at Griffith University in Queensland, said, "I think Paul Keating has a point when he says that Britain is still seeking old-time glory."

It should, however, be put in the context of two things, he told China Daily.

"One is Britain's withdrawal from the EU (European Union), which has turned out to be much more troublesome than expected, especially over the Irish issue and how unsympathetic the EU has been.

"The other thing is AUKUS. It looks as if Truss is really welcome in Australia and feels that Australia really likes her. This must feel good in the context of the total mess that (British PM) Boris Johnson finds himself in now."

Mackerras said Australia has nothing to gain from posturing on China. "In appearance, perhaps it gains the feeling that the Anglosphere is back and Australia can bask in being part of it and becoming part of an anti-China alliance. As for the signal it sends to Beijing, (it) is that Australia has turned its back on China, and even Asia, and wants to be part of the Anglosphere again, just like in the past," he said.

Mackerras added that he found "the whole idea of Truss joining in with Morrison and Dutton quite embarrassing and humiliating, especially when she starts making stupid remarks about Chinese aggression".

Truss said the UK and Australia are "facing global challenges with multiple aggressors. … We are seeing the alignment of authoritarian regimes around the world".

On Jan 17, in a speech to the World Economic Forum, Chinese President Xi Jinping called for a more peaceful world and abandoning the Cold War mentality.

"We need to discard Cold War mentality and seek peaceful coexistence and win-win outcomes," he said. "History has proved time and again that confrontation does not solve problems; it only invites catastrophic consequences."

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