In message to Sunak, Chinese premier calls for steady development of bilateral relations

Britain's newly appointed Prime Minister Rishi Sunak waves as he poses outside to door to 10 Downing Street in central London, on Oct 25, 2022, after delivering his first speech as prime minister. (DANIEL LEAL / AFP)

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has congratulated Rishi Sunak on his taking office as the prime minister of the United Kingdom.

In his congratulatory message to Sunak, which was made public on Oct 26, Li said both China and the UK are permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and major economies in the world, and they have extensive common interests.

China stands ready to work with the UK to advance healthy and steady development of bilateral ties based on the principle of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit in order to benefit the people of both countries and promote world peace, stability and development, he added.

Sunak, the UK’s former chancellor of the exchequer, won the ruling Conservative Party’s leadership contest on Oct 24. 

He replaced Liz Truss, who held the job for only 45 days, making her the shortest-serving prime minister in British history. She was forced to resign after overseeing a calamitous tax-slashing budget that sparked economic and political turmoil.

Sunak is the country’s first prime minister of non-white origin and the youngest in more than 200 years.

In a public address on Oct 24, Sunak said: “We now need stability and unity, and I will make it my utmost priority to bring our party and our country together.”

Kong Yuan, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences’ Institute of European Studies, said Sunak’s leadership could stabilize the situation in the UK but might not bring dramatic change.

“Sunak has a couple of difficult tasks he needs to tackle urgently,” he said. “His top priority is solving the economic crisis, with inflation exceeding 10 percent, owing to soaring energy tariffs and food prices.”

The new prime minister will also need to maintain the balance of public finances in the UK. “One major problem facing the UK is that it has a large amount of debt,” Kong said.

Yields on 30-year gilt bonds had been trading at 3.75 percent at the end of September. The installation of Sunak has calmed the markets, with the Financial Times reporting that the benchmark yield was back to 3.67 percent on Oct 25.

Ding Chun, director of the Center for European Studies at Fudan University, said high inflation and surging living costs are key issues that have upset the British public. In addition, Brexit has badly affected the British economy, society and political sector, and the Russia-Ukraine conflict has made the situation worse.

Since Brexit, Conservative Party members have lacked consensus on future development, leading to infighting. Ding said the recent chaos has seriously weakened the party, and if the situation continues, it could face a fight for its survival.

“Sunak becoming prime minister showed that the party has realized it needs to respond to the public’s needs; that is, whoever becomes prime minister will have to truly deal with the economic problems and reduce living costs. Election slogans no longer work,” he said.

When asked at a daily briefing on Oct 25 to comment on Sunak becoming prime minister, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said Beijing’s position on developing China-UK relations has been consistent and clear.

Maintaining and developing bilateral relations is the common responsibility of both countries and serves the common interests of the two peoples, he said.

Sunak has begun the process of assembling a more climate-friendly team around him. In a Cabinet reshuffle, Sunak retained Jeremy Hunt as chancellor, the man who replaced Kwasi Kwarteng after he was sacked, and got rid of many of his policies under Truss.

Energy secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg was replaced with Grant Shapps, a former transport secretary who backed plans to phase out petrol cars and once stated that the UK “cannot carry on relying on hydrocarbons”. Rees-Mogg was labeled by opposition politicians as a “climate dinosaur” who promised to extract “every last drop of oil” from the North Sea.

Sunak gave the role of environment secretary to Therese Coffey, who in previous government roles has encouraged green investment.

But environmentalists remain concerned over Sunak’s record on climate issues. Earlier this year, when he was chancellor of the exchequer, Sunak reportedly pushed to expedite the final approval of oil and gas fields in the North Sea, and since entering Parliament in 2015, he has voted chiefly against measures to combat emissions or to enshrine the net-zero 2050 pledge into the UK regulatory framework.

Contact the writers at chenyingqun@chinadaily.com.cn