China represents challenge to world order, says Rishi Sunak

• The UK must consider China’s challenge to the global order.
• And increase defense spending to 2.5% of national revenue.
• The Aukus accord was signed in 2021 to oppose Chinese military power in the Indo-Pacific area.

China “represents a challenge to the global order” that the UK must carefully consider, according to Rishi Sunak.

Because “the globe has grown more turbulent” and “threats to our security have escalated,” the prime minister told the Media that he was raising spending for the armed services.

For the next two years, defense spending will increase by about £5 billion.

Nevertheless, No. 10 hasn’t specified a deadline for a longer-term goal to increase spending to 2.5% of national revenue.

Mr. Sunak was speaking while in California, where he was meeting with his US and Australian counterparts to discuss the specifics of a deal between the UK and the US to provide Australia with nuclear-powered submarines.

The Aukus accord, which was signed in 2021 as part of an effort to oppose Chinese military power in the Indo-Pacific area, is called as such.

In an interview with the media, Mr. Sunak said: “China is a country with fundamentally different values to ours and it represents a challenge to the world order.

“And that’s why it’s right that we are alert to that and take steps to protect ourselves… stand up for our values and protect our interests.”

He said that the UK has taken steps, including preventing Chinese investment in delicate industries like semiconductors, in response to China’s “challenge,” which the government regarded seriously.

The prime minister responded that the government should be assessed “on our actions” when asked if the goal of raising defense spending to 2.5% of GDP was meaningless without a timetable.

In his capacity as chancellor, Mr. Sunak claimed to have presided over the biggest increase in defense spending since the conclusion of the Cold War, and the government has done so every year since.

“We’re one of the largest spenders on defense anywhere in the world, the largest in Europe, and that will continue to remain the case,” he added.

However, Labor claimed that since leaving office in 2010, the Conservatives had “failed to ensure Britain’s national defense for the future” and noted that defense spending had not reached 2.5% of GDP.

Concerns about the amount of money spent on the military forces have also been voiced by several Tory Lawmakers.

Russia and China “will be breathing a sigh of relief that we haven’t invested further,” according to Tobias Ellwood, chairman of the Commons Defense Committee.

An updated edition of the so-called Integrated Review outlines the government’s goals for defense and foreign policy.

Liz Truss, who was the prime minister at the time, authorized the modification in September 2017 to reflect Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

An “epoch-defining and systemic challenge… throughout nearly every facet of national life and government policy” is how the text portrays China under Communist Party control.

It says the government “will work with our partners to engage with Beijing on issues such as climate change”.

“But where there are attempts by the Chinese Communist Party to coerce or create dependencies, we will work closely with others to push back against them,” it adds.

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