Sunak government politicizing AI if it hosts summit without Beijing's full participation

UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly's visit to Beijing on Aug 30, during which the top UK diplomat said isolating China would be a mistake, was widely seen as an effort by the Rishi Sunak government to repair ties with Beijing, and make preparation for a possible meeting between the two sides on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in New Delhi.

However, that positive momentum has proved to be short-lived, as there are anti-China forces within the political circle in London that are always ready to nip in the bud any improvement in relations with Beijing. It is probably no coincidence that almost immediately before the meeting between UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Chinese Premier Li Qiang in the Indian capital on Sept 10, a UK parliamentary researcher was arrested on suspicion of spying for China.

The Chinese side has denied the accusation, telling the Sunak government the incident was "completely fabricated" and "nothing but malicious slander". Yet the incident still provided the China hawks with an excuse to pressure Sunak to dedicate considerable time of his first in-person meeting as the UK leader with the Chinese side raising strong concerns over China's "potential interference" in the UK's democracy.