Rishi Sunak to unveil curbs on China as UK’s ‘biggest long-term threat’

TIL Desk/World/Colombo/ China is the biggest long-term threat to Britain, Prime Minister contender Rishi Sunak will say on Monday as he unveils plans to curb the countrys soft power by closing all of its 30 Confucius Institutes, which promote the teaching of Chinese language and culture in the UK.

He will take on Liz Truss, his rival in the Conservative leadership race, by effectively accusing the foreign secretary and western leaders of having “turned a blind eye to China’s nefarious activity and ambitions” and call for a new Nato-alliance to be set up to counter it.

In an attempt to move the focus in the Tory leadership race on to national security and international affairs, Sunak is expected to say on Monday that China “is the biggest-long-term threat to Britain and the world’s economic and national security”, citing the views of the director general of MI5 and head of the FBI.

“At home, they are stealing our technology and infiltrating our universities,” the former Chancellor will say. “And abroad, they are propping up Putin’s fascist invasion of Ukraine by buying his oil and attempting to bully their neighbours, including Taiwan.”