The hardening of attitudes towards China, seen throughout much of the west and elsewhere, has been driven primarily by Beijing’s increasing repression at home and forcefulness internationally. The government was right to extend the arms embargo on mainland China – which covers equipment potentially used for internal repression – to Hong Kong, and to suspend the extradition treaty with the region. Though the US president would happily bargain away human rights concerns for trade concessions, Mr Pompeo and others talk as though they want a new cold war. The foreign secretary’s condemnation of “gross and egregious” human rights abuses in Xinjiang was overdue; targeting companies and officials for their actions there is another step. There are, sensibly, growing efforts for democracies to cooperate in dealing with China.

Source: The Guardian July 21, 2020 18:22 UTC