LDSD Public Forum 2024: A New Approach to China? Assessing UK, US and EU Directions
The UK has a new government in 10 Downing Street, the first Labour government in more than a decade and a half. The EU is challenged in establishing a new composition of the European Commission following European Parliament elections which consolidated both the far left and far right factions. And in January 2025 in the US President Trump will return to the White House.
Meanwhile, China’s economy is showing signs of slowdown while the PRC is increasingly interested in actively shaping the international order in the UN, in conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine and beyond. Chinese technological development and adoption is progressing unabated and at an accelerated pace, threatening to make Beijing a global leader in AI, quantum and other emerging technologies by the end of this decade.
It is therefore timely and topical to discuss whether the new British, American and European leaders will have a new approach to China – or indeed, if a new approach to China is warranted. Will relations be marked by continuity and steady but increasing tension? Will they be more transactional and accommodating or more confrontational and ideological? What should be the top economic, political, technological and defence priorities of the new British government in engaging with China as well as with our European and American allies and partners in relation to the issue of China’s rise?