UK Cuts Business with China amid Tension with West

British firms are ending economic ties with China in the wake of increased political and security tensions between Beijing and the West, an industry leader stated.

CBI director-general Tony Danker pointed out that the sudden restructuring of supply chains from China could also worsen the cost-of-living crisis.

Speaking to FT Weekend, Danker said thousands of companies in the UK were rethinking supply chains in anticipation of hardening anti-China political sentiment.

“We are all going to need to be good friends again,” he told the newspaper. “Every company I speak to at the moment is engaged in rethinking their supply chains… Because they anticipate that our politicians will inevitably accelerate towards a decoupled world from China.”

Furthermore, the CBI boss noted that Britain needed “new strategic alliances in the world”. In Washington, he added, the need for companies to build “resilience” in preparation of a porce from China was “all they are talking about”.

Warning that price rises were inevitable, he added: “It doesn’t take a genius to think cheap goods and cheaper goods may be a thing of the past."

On Thursday, Chinese President Xi Jinping had a candid talk with U.S. President Joe Biden and discussed Taiwan in a call that lasted more than two hours.

During their phone conversation, Xi told Biden that the U.S. is wrong to view Beijing as a long-term challenge and warned Washington not to “play with fire” over Taiwan. He also stressed that the two sides should maintain communication at all levels and promote bilateral cooperation, Xinhua News Agency reported Xi as saying.

In the same vein, Kremlin affirmed that Russia is supporting China in warning Biden regarding Washington’s stance on Taiwan.

“Undoubtedly, we are in solidarity,” Dmitry Peskov said. “We respect China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and think that no country in the world should have the right to question [it] or undertake any steps of instigative or other nature.”