Britain admits warship threat complicates China ties

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Europe

Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond, on Thursday admitted that UK's ties with China were complicated by talk of a British warship deployment in the Pacific, as mooted by British Defense Minister Gavin Williamson recently.

"It (Britain-China ties) is a complex relationship and it hasn't been made simpler by Chinese concerns about royal navy deployments in the South China Sea," Hammond said in an interview to BBC Radio when asked if Williamson's threat has damaged ties with Beijing.

"Our relationship with China is a very important one," he added.

Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond in London, UK, February 12, 2019. /VCG Photo

Earlier this month, the country's defense minister in a speech advocated deployment of aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth to the Pacific in a show-of-strength in the region and to protect its interest as the country prepares for a post-Brexit strategy. Britain is set to withdraw from the European Union on March 29.

British media reported that China responded by canceling bilateral trade talks, although Beijing hasn't officially said so. Hammond's trip to Beijing was canceled on Saturday, a day after a Chinese official in London criticized Williamson's "Cold War mentality," according to several media reports.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry, however, maintained that it was unaware of such a decision. "I have not heard of that," Geng Shuang, a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, told reporters on February 15 while responding to a question about cancellation of trade talks.

Within weeks Britain is about to undertake its biggest foreign and trade policy shift in over four decades in the form of Brexit and is seeking to boost its diplomatic and trade ties with all the major countries, including China.

China is among Britain's biggest trade partners, with bilateral trade touching a record 67.5 billion pounds (around 88 billion U.S. dollars) in 2017. China was the UK's sixth largest export market that year, worth 22.3 billion pounds and its fourth largest source of imports, worth 45.2 billion pounds, according to the House of Commons Library.

'Diplomatic headache'

Hammond's Beijing trip was aimed at charting out the course of China-UK economic and financial relations after Brexit, where the British minister was reportedly expected to propose linking the stock markets of the two countries.

The British Chancellor is on record expressing his wish to work with China to deepen all-round pragmatic cooperation, so as to boost the development of "Golden Era" of Britain-China relations.

However, Williamson's remarks – which were reportedly cleared in advance by the offices of both Prime Minister Theresa May and Chancellor Hammond – proved to be a dampener in that effort causing a diplomatic headache for Britain.

Britain's Defense Minister Gavin Williamson gives a speech during the 55th Munich Security Conference in Munich, Germany, February 15, 2019. /VCG Photo

Hammond said he was "disappointed" by the cancellation of his China trip while adding that Williamson's comments about HMS Queen Elizabeth's maiden deployment were "premature."

"The aircraft carrier is not going to be at full operational readiness for another couple of years, no decisions have been made or even discussed about where its early deployments might be," Hammond told BBC Radio, adding that "And when those decisions are made, they will be made in the National Security Council."

In light of the potential damage that a British naval deployment in the Pacific could cause to its relationship with China, Hammond's statement is being seen as an attempt to salvage the situation.

May's spokesperson on Thursday backed Hammond's statement and called for better ties with China. "We have strong and constructive ties on a range of issues and we will continue to do so."

Williamson, who is notorious for his eccentricity, has previously drawn flak after he told Russia last year to "go away and shut up." This prompted May to urge her colleague to be more diplomatic.

Asked if Williamson should be reined in, Hammond said: "I think that it's very important that we manage this relationship with China very carefully."

(Cover: Britain's aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth at Portsmouth Harbour in Hampshire, UK, August 18, 2018. /VCG Photo)

(With inputs from agencies)

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