China Hawks Are Uneasy About David Cameron's Warm Reception In Chinese Media

David Cameron has been urged to take a more hawkish stance on China following the warm welcome his return to Government has had in the state's media.

Cameron, who was appointed as Foreign Secretary in November, was known for ushering in a "golden era" of relations with China during his time as prime minister between 2010 and 2016, actively working towards closer relations with the superpower. He was having a pint with Chinese president Xi Jinping in 2015 during an official visit. 

However, relations between the UK and China have become more distant in the years since, with the UK offering visas to Hong Kong students fleeing crackdowns on pro-democracy protests, sanctions issued against China amid reports of a genocide against Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang, and even the Chinese-owned social media app TikTok being banned on the parliamentary estate as a result of security concerns. 

China has also sanctioned multiple British MPs who have spoken out publicly against human rights abuses by China in Xinjiang, including cabinet minister Tom Tugendhat, who accused them of “lies and disinformation”. 

But despite these tensions, multiple articles published in the Chinese press, which is tightly controlled by the Chinese state, since Cameron's return to frontline politics have expressed optimism that the new Foreign Secretary will encourage another era of closer relations between the UK and China. 

A piece in the Shanghai Daily argued that "the political symbolism of the move is an unmistakable gesture to Beijing which signals an alleviation in ties and a sidelining of the hawks in the Conservative Party", and that "the UK appears to be relenting in hostility toward China and the appointment of Cameron is the affirmative packaging of