China is a 'partner' to the UK in 'some areas', says Tom Tugendhat
China does pose a "threat" to the UK in "some areas" but in others it is a "partner", the security minister has said as he defended the approach taken towards Beijing in the Government's updated Integrated Review.
Tom Tugendhat told Times Radio: "The reality is China is many different things and to define it as a epoch-defining challenge I think is a pretty [good] way of doing an all encompassing headline line.
"The reality is that there is some areas where it is a threat, some areas where it is a challenge and some areas where it is a partner.
"The reality is we have got to look at the government in Beijing with our eyes wide open and not with the hope that some people approached a number of decades ago and to think really hard about what is in our interests, what is in the interests of the British people and how do we defend our friends and our allies and ourselves against what is becoming an increasingly challenging world. This isn’t just about China as well."
Security minister insists UK has not 'gone soft' on China
Tom Tugendhat, the security minister, has insisted Rishi Sunak and the Government have not "gone soft" on China following the publication of a major foreign policy document yesterday.
The updated Integrated Review described China as a "epoch-defining challenge" rather than as a "threat". Liz Truss had been expected to use the latter description if she had stayed on as prime minister.
Asked if the Government had "gone soft" on Beijing, Mr Tugendhat told Times Radio: "No, absolutely not. What we have seen here is that the Prime Minister is aligning himself quite rightly with our two partners that he has been with in San Diego, the Australians and the Americans.
"Nobody is going to tell me that China isn’t a threat in some areas and a challenge in others. What the Prime Minister is doing is talking about that overarching picture because China isn’t just a single aspect or a single area.
"What we have got to do as the United Kingdom is to make sure that we are constantly ready to change the way in which we deal with partners and challenges around the world and that is exactly what this Integrated Review does and that is why the Aukus deal is so important.
"I have to say I am less worried about the headline language and I am much more interested in the response and San Diego proves to me what I have always known which is we will take our responsibilities internationally seriously and we will prepare for the future."