The UK’s Response to the Challenge of Managing Its Relationships with China and the US

Abstract

AbstractAs a medium-sized power, but one with particular global responsibilities and ambitions deriving from its position on the UN Security Council, the UK finds itself in a special position in terms of a balancing to bandwagoning continuum (The concept is taken from Alan Bloomfield, 2016) in its response to China in the light of the intense strategic competition between China and the US that has been emerging. The UK has until recently operated, as Australia, largely within the central hedging zone, seeking its own relationship with China, but remaining fundamentally committed to the alliance with the US. But that positioning rather underestimates the profound shifts that have taken place in Britain’s overall view and relationship with China. Less than a decade ago the UK was rejoicing in the so-called golden era of its bond with China, a description that seemed to be aligning the UK in some respects more closely with Chinese objectives (and certainly using Chinese-style language to describe the connection). It is now considerably more China-sceptical.