US Sanctions Factoring Into UK Restrictions Against China, UK Official Says

United Kingdom Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said the U.K. was not “strong-armed” by the U.S. into recent actions against Beijing and Hong Kong, saying the U.K. shares many of the same policy goals as the U.S. But Raab did say recent U.S. restrictions against Huawei and Chinese officials have factored into U.K. policymaking.

“The reality is as a result of U.S. sanctions, we’ve, of course, got to look with a clear-sighted perspective at what that means,” Raab said during a July 21 press conference in London with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. “We’ve taken a decision based on that, but I don’t think there’s any question of strong-arming.”

The U.S. has lobbied other governments against using Huawei equipment and has called on allies to follow its lead in penalizing Beijing for its interference in Hong Kong’s autonomy (see 2007010030). Earlier this week, Raab announced that the U.K. is extending its arms embargo on mainland China to also cover Hong Kong, which bans exports of “lethal weapons,” their components, ammunition and a range of other defense items, including firearms and smoke grenades. The U.K. also recently announced it is banning Huawei from its 5G network.

Pompeo said the U.K.’s measures are “reflective of what [the prime minister] believed was in the best interests of the” U.K. people “I think the United Kingdom made a good decision, but I think that decision was made not because the United States said it was a good decision, but because leadership here in the United Kingdom concluded [it was] the right thing to do... .”

Both officials said they plan to continue to work closely on Chinese policies, and Pompeo said the U.S. wants to recruit more nations to pressure China. “We want to see every nation who understands freedom and democracy … to understand this threat that the Chinese Communist Party is posing,” he said. “That certainly includes the United Kingdom. It includes every country. We hope we can build out a coalition that understands this threat.”

Both Raab and Pompeo also said U.S.-U.K. trade negotiations are going well, with Raab calling it a “win-win” deal. “Our annual trade relationship is worth over $300 billion,” he said. “We think we can do even better than that.” Pompeo said the two sides have completed two rounds of negotiations, with the third round scheduled for later this month. “It is a primary focus of the United States to see if we can make progress on this and bring this to a closure just as quickly as possible,” Pompeo said. “I hope that we can get it finalized before too long.”