Sunak warns China poses "biggest challenge" to global security

Rishi Sunak put himself on a new collision course with his China-sceptic backbenchers today as he said Britain was 'de-risking, not de-coupling' its relationship with Beijing.

The prime minister used a press conference at the G7 to accuse the communist state of posing the "biggest challenge of our age to global security and prosperity", Daily Mail reports.

But he insisted the UK still had to engage with the regime, because of China's expanding economic might.

'We will work together as the G7 and other countries make sure that we can de-risk ourselves and the vulnerability of supply chains that we have seen from China, take the steps necessary to protect ourselves against hostile investment and do so in a way that doesn't damage each other,' he said.

It came as he faces pressure to take a harder line on China, which is acting increasingly belligerently in the Pacific and has targeted British MPs for sanction.

There are deepening concerns over the independence of nearby Taiwan, which has seen an uptick in tensions with its neighbour China - which claims its territory - in recent months.

In a wide-ranging press conference he also hailed Ukrainian President Zelensky's attendance amid the ongoing war in Ukraine.

Earlier this week, former UK PM Liz Truss spoke in Taiwan's capital Taipei, where she called China a 'threat' to Britain.

She warned that the West is already embroiled in a new Cold War with China as the communist state continues a massive military build-up alongside its economic might.

The former PM used her controversial visit to make a punchy speech about confronting and countering Beijing's political and economic might.

Mr Sunak last week backtracked on a pledge made during his 2022 leadership bid to shut down 30 Chinese state-sponsored Confucius Institutes across the UK.

In his unsuccessful campaign - before he entered No 10 after winner Ms Truss' disastrous mini-Budget sank her short-lived premiership - Mr Sunak had promised to close all 30 of Beijing's institutes in Britain.

But on Wednesday, the Government confirmed that a decision had been made that it would be 'disproportionate' to ban the institutes.