'He’ll get what he wants!’ Xi Jinping poised to suffocate UK amid extradition controversy
CHINA is expected to suffocate the UK with tight economic sanctions amid Prime Minister Boris Johnson's decision to terminate its Hong Kong extradition pledge - with one expert exclusively telling Express.co.uk that President Xi Jinping will not stop until he "gets what he wants".
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Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab, is poised to announce the suspension of the UK’s extradition treaty with Hong Kong. The move comes amid rising tensions between London and Beijing. It follows a controversial new security law introduced into Hong Kong by Beijing last month, and the UK’s decision to ban Huawei from its 5G network.
Mr Johnson has also offered residency rights to up to three million Hong Kongers.
In retaliation, China has accused the UK of meddling with its internal affairs.
Many warn that a trade war between the two nations looms.
Beijing refutes the claims made against it in relation to Hong Kong.
It says it is committed to upholding international law and has said the UK and the US’ actions intend to destabilise Hong Kong.
Mr Raab is expected to announce his plans regarding the extradition treaty in Parliament later today.
The existing treaty sets out plans for the event of those suspected of committing crimes in Hong Kong being apprehended in the UK.
Those “criminals” would usually be returned to face trial in Hong Kong, subject to due legal process and approval by ministers.
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This basis is now expected to change.
The BBC’s political correspondent, Nick Eardley, said the move is a “political decision designed to send another message to Beijing”.
Amid the escalating tensions, China has warned that it will retaliate if the UK imposes sanctions on any of its leading officials in relation to human rights offences and allegations of police brutality in Hong Kong.
It is something that Sean King, senior vice president at Park Strategies and business advisor to Asia, described to Express.co.uk as China’s willingness to go to extreme measures to ensure it “gets what it wants”.
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As seen with Hong Kong, Xinjiang, and, to a certain extent, Taiwan, China is currently engaged in a campaign of furthering its own influence and control within regions in and around its borders.
In Hong Kong, the security laws essentially place the autonomous island in the remit of the mainland; in Xinjiang, ethnic muslim Uighurs are being reportedly assimilated into Han Chinese culture, while in Taiwan, a nation that desires independence, is facing interference in its elections and maritime autonomy from Beijing.
China’s previous activities have failed to stir immediate action from foreign powers, with Mr King explaining that Western governments have to “tow the line” on issues China wants to pursue or face “economic coercion”.
Events in Hong Kong appear to have changed that.
Yet, Mr King recalls previous “coercive” methods from China in the face of global opposition that could be cause for concern moving into the future.
He said: “I think China is very focused on controlling and shaping how people view them and discuss them.
“There’s an element of economic coercion going on where if you want to trade with China you have to tow the line on issues that are important to them like Taiwan, like Tibet, the South China Sea, and Hong Kong.
“We saw this in 2010 when the nobel committee gave Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo a Nobel Peace Prize - even though the nobel committee is an independent entity, China retaliated by blocking imports of Norwegian Salmon to get back at Norway for its decision.
“In 2016, when South Korea agreed to let the US military deploy its terminal high altitude aerial defence system - its an anti-missile battery to protect South Korean and US troops from North Korean missiles - China retaliated by stopping Chinese tourists visiting South Korea, not awarding visas to Korean pop stars, boycotting and shutting down the company that sold the US the land for the missiles site, and blocking and shutting down their supermarkets in China.
“They use economic coercion to get what they want.
“And now we see with the belt and road initiative they’re also trying to infiltrate central and eastern Europe and make those countries more dependent on their trade and we see this with natural resource extraction across Africa too.”
Beijing has not yet reacted to the news of the UK’s extradition treaty suspension.