14 MARCH 2023 | NEWS
Rishi Sunak has declared China a “challenge to the new world order,” which the UK must take seriously.
The Prime Minister’s statement comes from the Government’s Integrated Review Refresh 2023, which states: “China poses an epoch-defining challenge to the type of international order we want to see”, concluding that Britain’s approach to security and values “must evolve”.
Former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith highlighted in Parliament that the PM first claimed China was “a threat”, then changed his rhetoric to “challenge”, and now describes the state as “an epoch-defining challenge”.
Foreign Secretary James Cleverly replied to the ex-Tory leader, saying: “It is impossible to distil it down to a simple word or phrase … we recognise international relations are more complicated.”
Following this statement in the House, Mr Sunak told reporters that he was increasing funding for the armed forces, with Defence spending set to rise by nearly £5bn over the next two years.
But Number 10 has yet to give a timeframe for a longer-term ambition to boost spending to 2.5% of national income.
Mr Sunak was speaking in California, where he held talks with his US and Australian counterparts to agree on the details for a UK-US pact to supply Australia with nuclear-powered submarines.
The agreement, known as the AUKUS pact, was signed in 2021 as part of a joint effort to counter Chinese military power in the Indo-Pacific region.
Here are some highlights from the Integrated Review Refresh 2023:
– Defence will receive £5 billion of additional funding over two years – focusing on the priority areas of nuclear resilience and conventional stockpiles;
– Overall, UK defence spending is expected to reach 2.2% of GDP this year (2.29%, including Britain’s military support to Ukraine);
– Reaching a new aspiration of spending 2.5% of GDP on defence;
– In 2022/23, we provided £2.3 billion in military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine, and we will maintain at least the same level of support in 2023/24;
– The Government will launch a new Economic Deterrence Initiative, with up to £50 million of funding over two years, to improve the UK’s sanctions implementation and enforcement;
– The UK will provide £20 million in additional funding to the BBC World Service over the next two years, to support English language broadcasting and counter disinformation;
– The Government will establish a new UK Integrated Security Fund;
– The UK will support the United Nations Security Council (UNSC)’s reform to welcome additional permanent members;
– The UK will host the next UK-African Investment Summit in April 2024.
IRR 2023 – Causes for concern:
– China’s deepening partnership with Russia and Russia’s growing collaboration with Iran in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine are two developments of particular concern;
– The threat from Iran has increased, as demonstrated by its advancing nuclear programme, regionally-destabilising behaviour and its actions in the UK – including 15 credible threats by the Iranian regime to kill or kidnap British or UK-based individuals since 2022;
– The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is also seeking to develop its nuclear capabilities, while pursuing regionally-destabilising activity through missile tests that threaten its neighbours.
The Integrated Review Refresh 2023 can be read in full here:
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