In a bid to appear statesman-like Sunak puts his foot in his mouth: China Daily editorial

It is na?ve to interpret UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak calling China a "systemic challenge" to the United Kingdom's values and interests as evidence of the softening of the UK government's stance on China.

His predecessor Liz Truss, who served in the post for 44 days, making her the shortest-serving prime minister of the country in history, declared that she would define China as a "systemic threat" to the UK when updating the country's diplomatic and security priorities. Such a stance is absurd. As was Sunak's remark in an interview with the media in Bali, Indonesia, during the G20 Summit on Tuesday. Their misperceptions of China put into stark relief that it is the UK side that has taken the initiative to adulterate the otherwise "golden decade" of Sino-UK relations.

Rather than a "threat" or "challenge", China is a long-term major investor, trade partner and overseas market for the UK. The past half a century of ties testify to the beneficial nature of their cooperation.

Both Truss and Sunak have exposed the extent to which being tough on China and Russia has become the default position for UK politicians as they need to divert the British public's attention from the fact that they have no solutions to rectify the country's dire domestic situation. Although Sunak, like Truss, has entered No 10 Downing Street by playing up their party's line, he should be reminded that poisoning the atmosphere for cordial relations with other countries might have helped him become the leader of the Conservative Party and thus of the country, but it is his performance in addressing the myriad domestic challenges of the UK that will decide how long he can hold the people's trust.

Notably, in the same interview, the UK leader made clear that his focus is on the other side of the Atlantic, as he echoed the rhetoric that emanates from the US Congress emphasizing that his government is ready to help Taiwan (in case of an "invasion" from the Chinese mainland), and it is mulling all possible means to that end, including selling weapons to the island.

That his remarks came at the G20 Summit when efforts are being made to come together to agree on ways to promote a global recovery serves to highlight the paucity of statesmanship that has characterized the insular mentality of the UK's leadership in recent years. Sunak also expressed his hope that China will work with the UK to address global challenges. But having raised the possibility of challenging one of China's core interests simply reinforces the notion that for some in the UK the sun has still not set on the empire. It is notable that of the permanent members of the Security Council of the United Nations, the UK leader is the only representative which China did not have a meeting with at the summit.

Although China is committed to making concerted efforts with all countries to advance their pragmatic cooperation and to shoulder their global responsibilities together, that is premised on mutual respect.