UK-China Relations - Reading List
Last updated: November 2021
This list collates useful papers and articles that frame some of the key debates in UK-China relations today. It focuses on those which are recently published and free-to-access.
Overview of relations
Where Next on UK-China Engagement? British Foreign Policy Group, 13 September 2021.
The UK and China: Next Steps. China Research Group, 26 September 2021.
Newsletter. Beijing to Britain: a weekly newsletter that summarises the ebbs and flows of China debate in the UK.
UK-China relations: from ‘golden era’ to the deep freeze. FT, 14 July 2020. UK and China: how the love affair faded. The Guardian, 18 December 2020. Two long reads looking at how UK-China relations evolved from 2015 to 2020.
Empty threats? Policymaking amidst Chinese pressure. Charles Parton, Council on Geostrategy, 6 July 2021. A report that revisits how the UK can craft a stronger framework on China.
The UK-China relationship. House of Commons Library, 14 September 2020. This objective briefing note looks at the change in relations between the UK and China. Read in tandem with the UK-China relations: a timeline briefing, also from the Commons Library.
The UK’s China Policy under U.S.-China Strategic Rivalry: The Impact of Think Tank Research. China Quarterly of International Strategic Studies, 2019. A look at the think tanks which have influenced the UK’s debate on China.
Parliamentary committees
Select committees have been active in scrutinising the UK’s relationship with China. Three notable reports:
The UK and China’s security and trade relationship: A strategic void. Lords’ International Relations and Defence Committee, 10 September 2021. A report from the House of Lords that draws from evidence from over 90 witnesses.
China and the rules-based international system. Foreign Affairs Committee, 26 March 2019. This influential report from 2019 recommended that the UK government develop and publish a China strategy.
A cautious embrace: defending democracy in an age of autocracies. Foreign Affairs Committee, 5 November 2019. This inquiry looked closely at autocracies’ influence on academic freedom in the UK, with an emphasis on Chinese influence into universities.
Key policy issues
Climate change
Analysis: The UK and China climate coordination. Chris Cash, China Research Group, 4 November 2021.
Is U.S.-China Climate Action Possible in an Era of Mistrust? Alex Wang, 20 July 2021.
Hong Kong
Q&A: The new Hong Kong British National (Overseas) visa. Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford, 23 November 2020. The most comprehensive summary of the new policy and its implications.
Hong Kong: The Joint Declaration. Commons Library, 5 July 2019.
Modern Hong Kong. Oxford Encylopedia of Asian History, Feb 2017. Steve Tsang’s concise history of modern Hong Kong.
Economy and investment
Assessing the UK–China Commercial Relationship. RUSI Newsbrief, 12 June 2020. Andrew Cainey and Veerle Nouwens summarise the business and trade relationship between the UK and China. A second article also looks at the political and foreign policy backdrop.
Statistics on UK trade with China. Commons Library, 14 July 2020.
UK jobs dependent on links to China. China-Britain Business Council, 1 November 2020. This report, commissioned by the China-Britain Business Council (CBBC) presents estimates of the number of UK jobs supported by links to China through trade, investment, tourism and students.
Breaking the China Supply Chain: How the ‘Five Eyes’ can Decouple from Strategic Dependency. Henry Jackson Society, 14 May 2020. A breakdown of the UK-China trade relationship which categorises goods in terms of strategic dependency.
Human rights and Xinjiang
Uyghurs for sale. ASPI, 1 March 2020. ‘Re-education’, forced labour and surveillance beyond Xinjiang.
Inside Xinjiang’s prison state. New Yorker, 25 February 2020
Further reading: Breaking down the Xinjiang Crisis.
5G
A different future for telecoms in the UK. National Cyber Security Centre, 14 July 2020. This blog post, written by Ian Levy, clearly and concisely explains the background behind the UK’s decision to remove Huawei from its 5G network.
The Security of 5G. Defence Committee, 8 October 2020. The report finds that there is clear evidence of Huawei’s “collusion” with the Chinese government. The House of Commons defence committee based its findings on the testimony of academics, cyber-security experts and telecom industry insiders, among others.
Higher education and influence
China–UK Relations: Where to Draw the Border Between Influence and Interference? RUSI, 20 February 2019. Again by Charles Parton, this paper outlines the likely extent of CCP interference activities in the UK.
Trading Places. Onward, 22 July 2020. This research paper by Will Tanner looks at UK universities’ growing dependence on overseas students, finding a third of overseas funding comes from China.
UK Universities and China. HEPI, 9 July 2020. This collection of essays provides an overview of the opportunities and challenges faced by higher education institutions engaging with China.
UK government
Government policy papers
The UK government has no published China strategy, although the Integrated Review will be published shortly. The two most recent China-specific documents are here:
2009: The UK and China: A Framework for Engagement. The government’s first full policy document setting out its framework for relations with China, launched by David Miliband as Foreign Secretary.
2015: UK-China Joint Statement 2015. The statement released shortly after Xi’s historic State Visit to the UK.
Bilateral dialogues
Most bilateral economic dialogues were suspended in response to the situation in Hong Kong. Readouts from the most recent are below.
October 2018: 4th UK-China Regional Leaders Summit
August 2018: 13th UK-China Joint Economic and Trade Commission
December 2017: 5th UK-China People to People Dialogue and 5th UK-China Energy Dialogue
June 2017: 24th UK-China Human Rights Dialogue
FCDO Hong Kong paper
The FCDO publishes an update on the situation in Hong Kong every six months.