In our opinion, Tim Summers’ reflection for East Asia Forum, in which the author explains Britain’s ‘swinging’ relationship with China, is very interesting.
Today more than ever, in the growing complexity we are experiencing, we must avoid holding separating, divisive positions. The topic ‘China’ is, not as of today, central to the public debate.
Nobody denies the internal contradictions in that country and the international conditioning, but we find positions such as those expressed by the new British rulers on China inappropriate, and particularly risky.
We reiterate: China is a ‘strategic competitor’ but cannot be considered an ‘enemy’. This antagonistic approach, especially in the current historical moment, takes us out of any prospect of strategic dialogue and possible negotiation in the common interest of humanity and the planet.
China, if we want to be realistic, must be at the table of the great geostrategic dialogues that are underway: from the cessation of the war in Ukraine, to the great energy question, to the recomposition of power relations at the international level.
