Illustration: Chen Xia/GT
Recently, the UK’s Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) dropped the case against Christopher Cash and Christopher Berry, who were accused of being "Chinese spies," believing that the case did not meet the threshold to prosecute. The CPS concluded that the UK government failed to provide evidence that China poses a "national security threat" to the UK.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer claimed that "all the focus" of this case should fall on the Tory government in place then — implying that if the Tory government had labeled China an "enemy," the trial might not have collapsed. The Conservatives, however, were quick to hit back. Party leader Kemi Badenoch claimed at the party’s annual conference that the Labour government had "deliberately collapsed the trial" because "the prime minister wants to suck up to Beijing."
Whether to "follow the evidence" or "appeal to political preference" is a dilemma that often confronts those in power. In recent years, successive UK Conservative governments have hyped up the so-called "China spy" narrative, with the goal to rectify the political ecology of the UK, make up for the policy mistakes in Brexit affairs, and strive to shape the UK’s national identity in the "post-Brexit era." In this process, the notion of an "external threat" became past Tory governments’ main tool — and China, unfortunately, has been caught in the "crossfire."
In 2021, the Johnson government labeled China a "systemic competitor," and by 2023, the Sunak government had upgraded the description to an "epoch-defining challenge." Obviously, such labels require supporting statistics and facts. Consequently, the UK government launched comprehensive investigations into Chinese companies and individuals in the UK. In 2020, the Johnson government announced a ban on Huawei’s 5G equipment, ordering the removal of all Huawei components from UK networks by 2027. In 2023, the Sunak government introduced the National Security Act, which broadened the definition of activities that could be considered threats to national security, explicitly criminalizing espionage, sabotage and persons acting for foreign powers. Meanwhile, MI5 Director General Ken McCallum has been repeating claims of "Chinese espionage" on various occasions.
The UK government at the time targeted not only Chinese nationals within the UK, but also turned its scrutiny toward Britons who have close contact with China. Cash and Berry — both China-focused scholars — became political casualties of this witch hunt. Cash, a former parliamentary researcher, had served as director of the "China Research Group," while Berry was a teacher in Oxfordshire. In March 2023, both were arrested and accused of collecting information that might be "directly or indirectly useful to an enemy." Their case epitomized the Conservatives’ escalation of their anti-China campaign.
Yet the crux of the issue lies in defining who exactly constitutes an "enemy" of the UK. Are China and the UK truly adversaries? Does China threaten the UK’s national security? Even the UK government has yet to clearly answer these questions — or perhaps it dares not call China a "threat" based solely on political preference. Despite inflammatory rhetoric from individual politicians during the Conservative era in the past, the UK government never officially designated China as a "threat." British officials understood that such a label would trigger fundamental changes in bilateral relations — changes Britain could not afford.
Since Starmer took office in 2024 and after a yearlong review, the UK government has avoided labelling China as an "adversary." Instead, it has adopted an intentionally ambiguous framework built around "competition, cooperation and challenge."
However, beyond partisan disputes, the deeper challenges facing the UK remain unresolved — foremost, economic stagnation. Despite attempts at "military Keynesianism" to spur growth through higher public spending, the UK economy continues to struggle. GDP grew by 0.7 percent in the first quarter of 2025, then fell to 0.3 percent in the second quarter. The Starmer administration urgently needs to expand foreign markets through diplomacy. In this context, maintaining stable relations with China serves the UK’s long-term national interests rather than short-term political gain.
The wise course for the UK is to ensure that its China policy remains rational and pragmatic. Going forward, the Starmer government needs to truly step out of the shadow of the Conservative Party’s past policy toward China, strengthen engagement with China, and ensure the steady and sustained development of China-UK relations.
The author is a research fellow at the Center for British Studies, Shanghai Academy of Global Governance and Area Studies, Shanghai International Studies University, and a distinguished expert at the university’s Center for European Union Studies.
原文地址：http://en.people.cn/n3/2025/1011/c90000-20375513.html