The U.S. Trump administration’s tough backlash against the Chinese Communist Party is influencing, and encouraging, its traditional allies. In recent times, Australia’s unyielding response to the CCP’s trade sanctions, the strong backlash against the fake photos tweeted by the CCP’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, the European Union’s adoption of the European version of the Magnitsky Act, the resignation of Jon Nicolaisen, the deputy governor of Norway’s central bank, for failing to renew his security clearance due to his marriage to a Chinese woman… …are all signs that Western democracies are beginning to realize the threat that the Chinese Communist Party poses to the world and are beginning to maintain a high level of vigilance against it. And a series of recent tough moves by the United Kingdom, a traditional U.S. ally, are also pointing to a fundamental shift in British policy toward the CCP.
On December 4, Bloomberg cited disclosures under the U.K. Freedom of Information Act that the U.K. government’s passport office said some 216,398 Hong Kong residents were issued British National (Overseas) passports (BNOs) in the first 10 months of this year, a higher number than in any year since 1997. In October alone, the department issued BNOs to 59,798 Hong Kong residents, a 52 percent increase over the same period last year. It was also the highest monthly figure since the UK government’s passport office began compiling BNOs at any time in 2015. Based on an average working day of eight hours, this equates to more than five BNOs being issued every minute.
BNO holders can now reportedly stay in the UK for five years and apply for citizenship after settling for another year. According to a study by the British government, an estimated 2.9 million Hong Kong people are eligible for BNOs, and as many as 2.3 million of their dependents. Of those eligible, the UK estimates that as many as 322,000 people will move to the country between 2021-2025.
The main reason for the increase in BNO passport applicants is the promulgation of the Hong Kong National Security Law by the Chinese Communist Party, which completely undermines its promise of “one country, two systems. Hong Kong people who do not want to be enslaved by the Chinese Communist Party have started a new wave of emigration. The British government, which had been condemning the CCP for not abiding by international treaties, opened its doors to admit highly educated people from Hong Kong, despite the CCP’s protests. This naturally caused the CCP great disgrace and had to backtrack.
Also on Dec. 4, Reuters reported that FTSE Russell, the global index industry leader, said it had removed shares of eight Chinese companies, including Hangzhou Hikvision, China Railway Construction Corp. and China Orient Red Satellite Corp. from its relevant products, effective Dec. 21. All of these companies are on the Pentagon’s blacklist of “Chinese Communist Party military companies. A spokesman for FTSE Russell’s owner, the London Stock Exchange Group, said the company acted after receiving feedback from index users and other stakeholders, and followed U.S. policy when U.S. sanctions restricted investment.
In addition, a U.S. media report said the eight Chinese companies had a combined market value of about $143.1 billion as of the close of trading on Dec. 4. FTSE Russell’s move has undoubtedly blocked a channel for the Chinese Communist Party to use these companies to make money in overseas markets, and it is only a matter of time before other indices follow suit.
The day before, the U.S. had just placed four Chinese companies – SMIC, CNOOC, China Construction Technology Group, and China International Engineering Consulting Corporation – on the “prohibited list for U.S. investors. Currently, 35 companies have been included in the U.S. sanctions list.
According to Kyodo News on Dec. 5, several Japanese government sources said the British Navy is expected to send the HMS Queen Elizabeth carrier battle group to the Asia-Pacific region early next year. “The carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth is currently the most powerful warship in the British Navy and the largest surface warship ever built in British history. The carrier was launched in 2014 and formally commissioned in 2017, and the operation early next year will be its first ocean deployment operation.
It is reported that it is extremely rare for extra-territorial countries outside the United States to deploy aircraft carriers on a regular basis in the Asia-Pacific region. Some expert analysis says that the British move in addition to highlighting its status as a major power, but also the United States to promote the “Indo-Pacific strategy” to help strengthen the relationship between the United Kingdom and the United States allies and deepen the British-Japanese defense cooperation, to restrain the Chinese Communist Party.
On December 1, the China Study Group, a group of conservative British lawmakers, released a report saying that Britain needs a new policy to deal with a more assertive Chinese Communist government abroad. The report’s recommendations include building a coalition of democratic states, limiting Chinese participation in key British infrastructure and sanctioning Chinese Communist Party officials who violate human rights.
Britain’s recent assertiveness against the CCP is linked to the CCP’s crackdown on the Hong Kong democracy movement and its Prime Minister Tony Powers’ shift in policy toward the CCP after he contracted the CCP virus in March. In fact, as early as July this year, the British government, which was heavily infiltrated by Chinese Communist Party funds and allowed Huawei to partially participate in the construction of the 5G network earlier this year, finally decided to ban China’s Huawei from participating in the construction of the UK’s 5G network. The British cabinet minister in charge of digital technology affairs, Dowden, said that from the end of this year, the purchase of Huawei products by British communication service providers will be banned, while the already installed Huawei products will need to be completely removed by 2027. The reason given by Dowden is for security reasons on the one hand, and based on the sanctions previously proposed by the US against Huawei on the other.
The key to Britain following the U.S. and becoming increasingly tough on the Chinese Communist Party is that it is aware of the danger it poses to the world, and that it feels that the trend is to destroy the Communist Party. The Chinese Communist Party, which has always intended to divide Britain, the United States, Europe and the United States, should think about its own end.
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