Beijing Review – August 15, 2019

http://www.bjreview.com AUGUST 15, 2019 BEIJING REVIEW 25

WORLD

Copyedited by Rebeca Toledo

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largely passed by in the general education

system. Someone can go through life in

the UK barely conscious of what is happen-

ing in or with China. The simple fact is that

from what little solid evidence there is at the

moment, the British people are neither posi-

tive nor negative about the world’s second

largest economy, they are on the whole

indifferent.

A new path

As he drives the UK toward becoming a

“Global Britain” no longer intimately linked

to the EU, Johnson could fundamentally

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and priority of China for the British people.

He does have significant influence now,

and to see him evincing at least some

emotion and engagement with China, and

showing why the country increasingly mat-

ters to the UK, would potentially create

a new kind of relationship. What Johnson

may do is to reset the relationship, and

insist on something that is more tangible,

properly reciprocal and pragmatic. That

means moving beyond a lot of the history

that is constraining things at the moment.

It also means a UK which has a clear vision

of what it wants from China and how it in-

tends to achieve it, a UK that can insist on

a stronger reciprocal relationship, but also

needs to back this up by doing something

much more systematic about the currently

poor knowledge levels of many of its own

citizens about this increasingly important

new partner.

If the net result of this is a balanced,

largely harmonious, sustainable relation-

ship with China which creates a new

model the rest of the world can see, then

this would be a huge achievement. After

all, the new risks that the UK needs to

take in its trading and diplomatic relations

as it undertakes the experiment of walk-

ing away from its most important current

set of partnerships in the EU, means that

inactivity is not an option. Nor, in this new

context, is risk all on the side of London.

For China too, actions which are seen as

over assertive or aggressive toward the UK

in its new era could have reputational ef-

fects with how the country relates to the

rest of the world. Coming out with “win-

win” outcomes in this context could be a

huge encouragement for others.

In order to create this possibility,

Johnson will have to resolve one final is-

sue: his intense desire to be close to the

U.S. This may well be the hardest quandary

for him to crack. Leaving the EU means

making significant deals with the U.S.,

something Trump has also promised,

though with many caveats and qualifica-

tions. Keeping the U.S. and China happy at

the same time—particularly at the time

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disagreements—would be a miraculous

achievement. But for Johnson, it is only one

of several miracles he has promised. And at

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on July 10