UK politicizing cyber security issue against China will backfire

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For certain Western policymakers, playing the China card for selfish political gain has become routine.

"Chinese state-affiliated actors were responsible for two malicious cyber campaigns targeting both our democratic institutions and parliamentarians," UK Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden told members of parliament this week, unveiling sanctions on two individuals and one company linked to the "China-backed" campaigns.

Accusing China of "cyberattacks," the UK government has not provided any single piece of solid evidence. More interestingly, the "hacking operations" were discovered in 2021 and 2022, but it was not until 2024– when UK politicians are gearing up for the upcoming general election – that Dowden started to blame China.

Apparently, London's China-bashing endeavors are out of political calculations – with votes being the No.1 consideration. The UK is poised to hold its first election in five years in the second half of 2024. However, while the ruling Conservatives took the lead in polls throughout 2022 and 2023, the Labour Party has outperformed Tories in the polls since Rishi Sunak became Prime Minister, according to the Statista Research Department. And this, based on recent polls, could lead to Labour's final win in the general election.

Unhappy to see its popularity rate drop, No.10 Downing Street needs to find a solution, and playing China card has proven effective to woo votes. The more "dangerous" the "China threat" is for the UK's national security, the more united the public will be and thus more support can be garnered for the ruling government.

It is not the first time that No.10 Downing Street has hyped up the "China threat." "China represents an economic threat to our security and an epoch-defining challenge," Sunak once said. Against this backdrop, China-made electric cars are labelled as "Trojan horses" and some China-made cameras have been banned in the UK. The so-called "Chinese cyberattacks" are just an updated version of Beijing-paranoia. After all, "China threat" is always an easy tool to unite voters.

Bashing China is also an "ideal" way to "solve" domestic headaches. The UK, in recent years, has been battered by high inflation, the cost-of-living crisis, divisions over the immigration issue and fallout from the Gaza conflict, to name but a few. Instead of finding real solutions – which many British politicians obviously do not have, the UK government is adept at covering up its failures and distracting citizens' attention from the thorny issues the country is currently facing.

British politicians play the blame game for selfish political gains. But the China-bashing tactic will only backfire. To begin with, politicizing cyber security issues will not help in seeking the truth, and smearing China will not make cyberspace more secure. If the UK government is serious in investigating cyber espionage and countering cyberattacks, it should at least find some objective evidence. Cooperation is vital during the process. Baselessly discrediting China will only damage the cooperative atmosphere between Beijing and London, and will not help in tracing the origins of cyberattacks.

In addition, the Chinese embassy in the UK has stated that China has always stood against illegal unilateral sanctions and will make a justified and necessary response to this. If the UK government insists on going down the wrong path and spreading lies about China, it is highly likely that Beijing will take countermeasures, which will only bring more bad than good to London.

Cyber espionage is a global threat. If the UK is sincere in addressing the issue, ending the China-bashing game would be a logical first step.

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