According to the Straits Express reported on September 1, Jerry Greenstone, a senior official in charge of the investment field in the United Kingdom, said publicly a few days ago that the United Kingdom will not take the road of trade protectionism, saying that as long as it is beneficial to the United Kingdom, Chinese companies will continue to come to invest. Greenstone's statement drew a line with the United States, which was desperate to provoke China's decoupling from the West.
Greenstone's attitude actually represents that Britain has returned to a realistic attitude after experiencing the wandering and hesitation of the past. In recent years, the United States has clearly listed China as a "strategic competitor" and has continuously drawn allies to build an anti-China circle of friends in the international community. As a die-hard fan of the United States, the United Kingdom has actively cooperated with the United States since Johnson became prime minister on issues such as banning Huawei, Involving Hong Kong and Xinjiang, and "freedom of navigation in the South China Sea", which once greatly colded the relations between China and the United Kingdom.
The announcement by senior British government officials that they will welcome Chinese enterprises to invest in the UK is obviously a positive signal to China that the UK will give the green light to Chinese enterprises in domestic investment and construction, and it is no longer only Washington. From the perspective of the United States, it means that people are scattered, the team is not good, and Washington is more and more unable to hold his little brother. Even Britain, a particular hardcore ally, could not look down on it, let alone anything else.
In fact, the United Kingdom has recently shown more than once showing signs of deliberately distance from the United States. In late August, the BBC, a well-known British media, pointed out that the series of decisions made by the United States in Afghanistan showed that the alliance between the United States and the United Kingdom was not very special, and the United States repeatedly ignored the "British feelings", and the United Kingdom had better adjust the US-UK relationship to a "low-level partnership". The BBC borrowed the words of former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger to warn that "it is dangerous to be an enemy of the United States, but it is fatal to be a friend of the United States." ”
In the process of dealing with the situation in Afghanistan this time, the British side has also repeatedly fiercely attacked the Biden administration, accusing Afghanistan of a catastrophic withdrawal, which is the shame of the entire West. British lawmaker Bryant even directly "shelled" Biden, calling his speech on Afghanistan "the most shameless statement ever made by any US president."
The rift between Britain and the United States is clearly visible. Judging from the current situation of the United Kingdom, the country has completed Brexit with difficulty, and its international influence has declined significantly. In this case, it should only allow Britain to choose to embrace the United States more tightly and make the United States and Britain closer, but why did Britain behave so "disobedient"?
In addition to making britain understand in the process of dealing with the Afghan problem that the selfish nature of the United States determines that it will not respect the interests of its allies, more importantly, China's economy, markets and high-quality investment are extremely attractive to Britain. As the world's second largest economy, China's economy has begun to surpass that of the United States, and the future prospects are bright.
Although the British have not been the "boss" for many years, they are still very sensitive to the changes in international relations. For a long time, the United States has repeatedly disregarded the interests of its allies and let them act as cannon fodder and victims of the great power game. Nowadays, for the needs of its own interests, although the United States is trying to coerce its allies to confront China, it is very likely that when it is powerless to suppress China, it is possible to seek dialogue and reconciliation with China at any time, just look at Australia's losses in China-Australia economic and trade relations being "laughed at" by the United States.
There is reason to believe that under this "exemplary" role of the United Kingdom, more and more US allies are bound to follow suit and turn to cooperation with China.