Description
The consequences of China’s four-decade economic rise have finally spilt over into the international arena. This has led to shifts that extend across geopolitics, security, and political economy, opening new horizons while challenging long-standing dogmas.
The United Kingdom, like many countries from the United States to Europe and South-East Asia, is struggling to create a coherent 'China strategy' that overcomes the problematic interlocking between economic and security interests. Indeed, London has to balance a crucial trade interaction with Beijing, the Anglo-American special relationship, ongoing developments in the South China Sea, and a unique historical bond to Hong Kong.
Papers in this panel unpack this conundrum from two corresponding perspectives. On the one hand, two papers consider the shifting landscape through the lens of US-China geopolitical competition. Conversely, the other papers investigate Sino-Britain relations by looking at UK’s securitisation of Chinese Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) and by exploring the concealed networks behind recent significant events of this relationship. This way, the panel provides a comprehensive picture that accounts for both geopolitical and policy dimensions of Britain’s China dilemma. Considered together, the papers reveal a complex, multifaceted account where engagement with China may become one of Downing Street’s most sophisticated dilemmas.
