Four in 10 Britons see China as a threat and just 15% want closer ties with authoritarian superpower


Four in 10 Britons see China as a threat and just 15 per cent want the UK to force closer ties with growing authoritarian superpower amid confrontation over Hong Kong and Uighur ethnic cleansing

  • Some 43 per cent of those polled for MailOnline see Beijing as an adversary
  • Little more than one in 10 of the 1,500 people quizzed see China as a global ally
  • Just 15 per cent want the UK to force closer ties with the Communist state 

More than four in 10 Britons believes that China is a direct threat to the United Kingdom, a new poll reveals today.

Some 43 per cent of those polled by Redfield and Wilton Strategies for MailOnline see Beijing as an adversary.

In contrast little more than one in 10 (11 per cent) of the 1,500 people quizzed see China as a global ally. 

Additionally, just 15 per cent want the UK to force closer ties with the Communist state and almost a third (29 per cent) was the UK to cool relations.

The poll comes in the wake of a  growing row between the two countries over Hong Kong, a former UK territory, and the mistreatment of the Uighur Muslim minority in China’s remote Xinjiang province.

The ethnic cleansing underway has been branded ‘genocide’ by the US and this week the UK was among a swathe of countries which introduced sanctions against officials believed to be involved. 

More than half (54 per cent) of those polled said they felt the UK had a responsibility to protest against human rights abuses in China.

Beijing overnight slapped sanctions on British politicians and academics in revenge for the international effort.

They are all strong critic of China’s atrocities and taking aim at the regime on Twitter this morning Boris Johnson said he stands ‘firmly’ with those affected. 

‘The MPs and other British citizens sanctioned by China today are performing a vital role shining a light on the gross human rights violations being perpetrated against Uyghur Muslims,’ he said.

‘Freedom to speak out in opposition to abuse is fundamental and I stand firmly with them.’

It comes amid a growing schism in Conservative ranks over whether to stand up to the totalitarian regime of Xi Jinping or treat more carefully with a global trade superpower.

China hawks including former party leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith were hit with the sanctions, which he said he would wear as a ‘badge of honour’ for demanding tougher action against China.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab announced a package of travel bans and asset freezes against four senior officials and the state-run Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps Public Security Bureau (XPCC PSB).

Taking aim at China on Twitter this morning Mr Johnson said he stands 'firmly' with those affected.

Taking aim at China on Twitter this morning Mr Johnson said he stands ‘firmly’ with those affected.

China has hit British institutions and MPs including former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith (pictured in the House of Commons last December) with sanctions in response to similar moves by the UK over the treatment of people in Xinjiang

China has hit British institutions and MPs including former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith (pictured in the House of Commons last December) with sanctions in response to similar moves by the UK over the treatment of people in Xinjiang 

He said the abuse of Uighur Muslims was ‘one of the worst human rights crises of our time’ and the global community ‘cannot simply look the other way’.

But China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today that Mr Raab’s move was ‘based on nothing but lies and disinformation, flagrantly breaches international law and basic norms governing international relations, grossly interferes in China’s internal affairs, and severely undermines China-UK relations’. The Ministry said it had sanctioned nine people and four British institutions ‘that maliciously spread lies and disinformation’. 

Tory MPs Sir Iain, Neil O’Brien, Tim Loughton, Nusrat Ghani and chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee Tom Tugendhat were sanctioned, along with crossbench peer Lord Alton, Labour’s Baroness Kennedy, barrister Geoffrey Nice and academic Jo Smith Finley.

Activists and UN rights experts say at least one million people, mainly Uighurs and other Muslim minorities, have been detained in a vast system of camps in China’s western Xinjiang region in recent years.

Former inmates say they were subject to ideological training, forced labour and abuse in the camps. The activists and some Western politicians also accuse China of carrying out forced sterilisations on Uighur women and separating children from their families.

China has repeatedly denied all accusations of abuse and says its camps offer vocational training and are needed to fight extremism.

Advertisement

Leave a Reply