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Rishi Sunak has promised to ban China’s controversial Confucius Institutes from the UK, labelling Beijing the “biggest-long term threat to Britain”.
The announcement is a serious attempt by the former-chancellor to challenge his rival Liz Truss’s appeal among the China hawks in the Tory party.
It would signal a major hardening of government policy towards the country if Mr Sunak becomes the next prime minister, and follows major pressure from a vocal caucus of Tory backbenchers.
The plans are an attempt to firm up Mr Sunak’s national security credentials, as he promises to close all 30 of China’s Confucius Institutes in the UK.
Funded by the Chinese Government, they are ostensibly culture and language centres but critics have labelled them propaganda tools amid worsening relations between the West and China.
Mr Sunak accused China of “stealing our technology and infiltrating our universities”.
He said: “Abroad, they are propping up Putin’s fascist invasion of Ukraine by buying his oil and attempting to bully their neighbours, including Taiwan.
“They torture, detain and indoctrinate their own people, including in Xinjiang and Hong Kong, in contravention of their human rights. And they have continually rigged the global economy in their favour by suppressing their currency.”
With a pledge to lead the world in standing up to China so-called “technological aggression”, Mr Sunak said he would implement an amendment to the Higher Education Bill that would force British universities to disclose any foreign funding partnerships of more than £50,000.
He is also committing to a review of all UK-Chinese research partnerships which might assist China technologically or have military applications, as well as expanding MI5’s reach to provide greater support to British businesses and universities to counter alleged Chinese industrial espionage.
He said he will examine whether there is a need to prevent Chinese acquisitions of key British assets, amid concerns about the scale of Chinese investment in key industries.
The Sunak camp also highlighted that his opponent in the Tory leadership race was responsible for opening nine out of the 30 Confucius Institutes.
In a speech in 2014, Ms Truss said she was “delighted to support the IoE Confucius Institute – in partnership with Hanban”, adding: “The Confucius Institute and its network of Confucius classrooms will put in place a strong infrastructure for Mandarin.”
The Truss campaign was quick to question Mr Sunak’s new pledges, with Sir Iain Duncan Smith calling the announcement “surprising”.
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Sir Iain, the co-chairman of the inter-parliamentary alliance on China, said: “Over the last two years, the Treasury has pushed hard for an economic deal with China. This is despite China sanctioning myself and four UK parliamentarians…[and] committing genocide on the Uyghurs and increasing its influence in our universities.”
“After such a litany, I have one simple question, where have you been over the last two years?”
A spokesperson for Ms Truss said: “Liz has strengthened Britain’s position on China since becoming Foreign Secretary and helped lead the international response to increased Chinese aggression.”
