United Kingdom: The United Kingdom has stated in an update to the country’s strategic foreign and defence policy that China represents an “epoch-defining challenge” to the world order, and the UK and Europe’s security are tied to Russia’s unsuccessful prosecution of its war on Ukraine.

In an update to the Integrated Review (IR) policy paper, the UK noted the challenges posed by China and its deepening partnership with Russia, as well as Moscow’s growing cooperation with Iran.

The 63-page report indicates the UK’s decision to position Beijing and Moscow as existential threats to the UK and Europe, as well as emphasising the wider rules-based world order.

“Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, weaponisation of energy and food supplies, and irresponsible nuclear rhetoric, combined with China’s more aggressive stance in the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait, are threatening to create a world defined by danger, disorder, and division,” UK Prime Minister Mr. Rishi Sunak wrote in the foreword to the review.

The review further noted that the UK’s provision of $2.8 billion in military and humanitarian aid to Kyiv, as well as hundreds of targeted sanctions in coordination with allies, had “already weakened the Russian war machine and set in motion international justice for Moscow’s egregious war crimes.”

“The UK’s objective will be to contain and challenge Russia’s ability and intent to disrupt the security of the UK, the Euro-Atlantic, and the wider international order,” the review added.

The UK Foreign Secretary Mr. James Cleverly told parliament that China’s size and significance connected it “to almost every global issue”.

“We cannot be blind to the increasingly aggressive military and economic behaviour of the Chinese Communist Party, including stoking tensions across the Taiwan Strait,” Mr. Cleverly observed.

The unveiling of the update is expected to coincide with the UK Prime Minister’s visit to San Diego to agree the next steps in a landmark defence agreement, AUKUS, with US President Mr. Joe Biden and Australian Prime Minister Mr. Anthony Albanese.

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