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It’s Time for the West to Get Tough with China

Do we need to prevent a Beijing-dominated world or is it only a matter of time before China usurps the US as the world’s most influential superpower?

It seems as if everyone has a reason to be angry with China. Human rights organisations campaign against its suppression of democracy in Hong Kong and its treatment of Uighur Muslims in ‘re-education’ camps. Corporate America has battled for years against intellectual property theft from Chinese businesses. Green activists protest against its environmental record, while the arrival of 5G has created another point of friction as the UK and the US battle to limit Huawei’s influence. So what is the best way to handle this superpower?

Some say it is essential to get tough. If we are to maintain a liberal democratic world order, then countries that threaten it must be prepared to pay the price.

That is the argument of the hawks. But not everyone agrees. Proponents of a more hands-off approach say that those who want to get tough on China will only isolate it and make it even more hardline. Instead of playing tough and risking a second Cold War, we should engage in good faith with China and co-opt it into the world order.

In December 2020 we were joined by Conservative MP Tom Tugendhat, argues that we need to prevent a Beijing-dominated world, and Singaporean author Kishore Mahbubani, who contends that the West should accept that it’s only a matter of time before China usurps the US as the world’s most influential superpower.


Speakers

For the motion

Tom Tugendhat

Conservative MP and Chair of the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee


Conservative MP for Tonbridge, Edenbridge and Malling and Chair of the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee. He also leads the China Research Group (CRG) of Conservative MPs to promote fresh thinking about how Britain should respond to China’s rise. Before becoming an MP, Tom was in the British Army and served in both Iraq and Afghanistan.
Against the motion

Kishore Mahbubani

Singaporean civil servant, diplomat and academic


Singaporean civil servant, diplomat and academic. During his stint at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 1971 to 2004, he served as Singapore's Permanent Representative to the United Nations and held the position of President of the United Nations Security Council between January 2001 and May 2002. Between 2004 and 2017, he served as Dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at National University of Singapore. He is currently a Distinguished Fellow at the Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore. He was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in October 2019. He has written eight books about the rise of Asia, geopolitics and global governance. His latest book is Has China Won?: The Chinese Challenge to American Primacy.
Chair

Manveen Rana

Senior investigative journalist and host of The Times and Sunday Times flagship podcast Stories of Our Times


Senior investigative journalist and host of The Times and Sunday Times flagship podcast Stories of Our Times. She was previously a broadcaster and reporter for BBC Radio 4's The Today Programme and The World at One.

 

Speakers subject to change.