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Transcript/Script((PLAYBOOK SLUG: BRITAIN LEADERSHIP CHINA
HEADLINE: Candidates for Next British Prime Minister Pledge Tough Stance on China
TEASER: Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and former Chancellor Rishi Sunak final two candidates in race to succeed Boris Johnson
PUBLISHED AT: Wednesday, 7/27/22 at 7:24 am
BYLINE: Henry Ridgwell
DATELINE: LONDON
VIDEOGRAPHER: Henry Ridgwell
VIDEO EDITOR:
SCRIPT EDITORS: Salem Solomon, wpm
VIDEO SOURCE (S): APTN, Reuters, AFP, Skype
PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB X TV X RADIO X
TRT: 3:08
VID APPROVED BY: wpm
TYPE: VPKGN/RADIO
EDITOR NOTES: There is a companion web article.))
((INTRO))
[[The contest to succeed Boris Johnson as British prime minister is down to two candidates. As Henry Ridgwell reports from London, policy towards China has become a key issue on the campaign trail.]]
((NARRATOR))
Former Chancellor Rishi Sunak and the current foreign secretary, Liz Truss, are vying to take over from Boris Johnson, who resigned as prime minister earlier this month. Fewer than two hundred thousand Conservative party members will vote to choose Britain’s next prime minister in the coming weeks.
Taxation and inflation have dominated the domestic agenda – but on foreign policy, China has dominated. In a recent televised debate, Truss said she would crack down on Chinese-owned companies like TikTok.
((Liz Truss, Conservative Party Leadership Candidate))
“We should be limiting the amount of technology exports we do to authoritarian regimes.”
((NARRATOR))
The foreign secretary pledged a tougher stance against Beijing.
((Liz Truss, Conservative Party Leadership Candidate))
“After the appalling abuses in Xinjiang, after the terrible actions on Hong Kong and the most recent outrage, which is China working with Russia and essentially backing them in the appalling war in Ukraine, we have to take a tougher stance.”
((NARRATOR))
Truss’s rival, Rishi Sunak, has called China the ‘number-one threat’ to domestic and global security.
((Rishi Sunak, Conservative Party Leadership Candidate))
“And as prime minister, I'll take a very, very robust view on making sure that we do stand up for our values and we protect ourselves against those threats, because that's the right thing to do for our security.”
((NARRATOR))
The candidates are appealing to a particular electorate, notes analyst Steve Tsang.
((Professor Steve Tsang, Director of University of London SOAS China Institute))
((Mandatory cg: Skype))
“The Conservative party members are more concerned about China policy than the general public in the U.K. as a whole. And this, I think, is the reason why the two prime ministerial contenders engage in a debate on China, but they were only focused on one single issue: who is softer on China, rather than what the U.K.’s China strategy should be.”
((NARRATOR))
Matching policies as prime minister with the rhetoric of the campaign may be a challenge, says Tsang.
((Professor Steve Tsang, Director of University of London SOAS China Institute)) ((Mandatory cg: Skype))
“Some commitments can be achieved relatively quickly, for example the closing of Confucius (higher education) institutes, articulated by Sunak. The real issue here is whether Liz Truss will as prime minister repeat what she had said, if she continues to use the description ‘genocide’ on Xinjiang, it’s going to make the relationship between the U.K. and China very, very difficult indeed.”
((NARRATOR))
Beijing criticized the language used in the British leadership debate.
[[Radio Track: Zhao Lijian, the Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson criticised the language used in the British leadership debate.]]
((Zhao Lijian, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson (in Mandarin)))
“I would like to urge certain British politicians not to make an issue out of China or hype the so-called China threat.”
((NARRATOR))
The result of the vote will be announced September 5.
((Henry Ridgwell, for VOA News, London.))
NewsML Media TopicsArts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
NetworkVOA
Location (dateline)London
BylineHenry Ridgwell
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America - English
