Michael Kovrig: It should be obvious now: a China policy fails if it overlooks the Party’s adversarial nature and intentions. All governments are one political hostage, trade dispute or frank statement away from a China crisis…
Internally divided and desperate to balance budgets without cutting entitlements, British and other Western elites have nonetheless accommodated Xi’s agenda in the vain hope of economic lifelines and competitive coexistence. But the Party treats stability as tactical and constantly seeks to improve its position in a zero-sum pursuit of security through centrality. The Labour government must internalize that cohabitation is possible only as the consequence of a favourable balance of power restored through economic resilience, military rearmament, industrial and technological renewal, allied and likeminded coordination, deterrence by denial, and constant constraints on the Party-state…