Russian media article: Britain and Japan's anti-China "double carriage" is difficult to take shape in the short term

On November 1, the website of the Russian newspaper "The Independent" published an article entitled "Britain Turns to Asia with Anti-China Tendencies" by Valery Kistanov, director of the Center for Japanese Studies at the Institute of Far Eastern Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The full text is excerpted below:

Long before the middle of the last century, Britain was the dominant colonial power in the Asia-Pacific region. After the final collapse of the British Empire, London's fundamental economic and military interests were tied to institutions such as the European Union and NATO. After Brexit, As part of a grand vision to return the UK to the ranks of global powers, London reoriented its course to the booming Asia-Pacific region.

First, the UK intends to compensate for the economic losses in the European market by comprehensively developing its trade and economic relations with the countries of the region on a bilateral and multilateral basis. For example, in June, the UK government submitted an application to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), hoping to join the agreement by 2022. This path was chosen because the CPTPP could become an extremely important mega-integration project in the region and around the world in the future.

The aim of this step is to profit from lower trade tariffs on the UK economy, as the CPTPP exempts 95% of the goods from tariffs. The agreement is much more lenient than that of EU member states because the CPTPP does not require deep political integration. Joining the partnership will create huge opportunities for UK businesses that are not available in the EU and deepen their relationship with some of the fastest growing markets in the world. In this way, London is effectively replacing the European Union with the Asian Partnership.

At the same time, Britain's pivot to Asia is part of a larger effort by the United States and its allies to counter China's growing naval activities and aggressive trade and investment practices. CPTPP is one of the tools for this confrontation in the economic sphere. The trade union was formed to contain China's economy. While the Trump administration pulled the U.S. out of the partnership in 2017, the possibility of a Biden administration returning there is not ruled out over time.

In its Comprehensive Assessment of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy, published in March, the British government loudly announced that the UK would make a sharp turn towards Asia and treat China as a "systemic challenge" in the economic and security spheres.

At the same time, the report acknowledges the importance of working with Beijing to address global challenges such as climate change and to address complex issues in economic relations. The document argues for continued trade and investment ties with China, but with caution to protect Britain's security and values.

Britain's sharp turn toward Asia in economic and security terms, as well as the apparent deterioration of Sino-British relations, are of great significance to Japan. According to a 2017 joint statement issued by then-British Prime Minister Theresa May and then-Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Tokyo and London pledged to strengthen security and economic cooperation.

Japan's support for Britain's increasingly clear approach in the Asia-Pacific region gives reason to discuss the emerging anti-China axis of trade, economics, and military-political between Japan and Britain. Chinese experts are concerned about what they call a "Britain-Japan quasi-alliance." It is reminiscent of the Anglo-Japanese alliance that changed the course of development in Asia in 1902-1923. Chinese argues that the alliance is not only about countering Russia in Asia, but also has a behind-the-scenes agenda to contain China. Now, after joining forces with Tokyo, London is once again trying to stop Beijing from moving forward.

However, Tokyo and London are still far from forming an effective anti-China "two-wheeled carriage." They face too many other pressing issues, including the economic and anti-epidemic areas. More importantly, Britain and Japan are not interested in completely undermining relations with China, the world's second-largest economic and technological power and the most important trade and economic partner of Britain and Japan.

Source: Reference News Network