Skip to main content
Work with the NEU
The sudden arrival of a cold war with China
Within a few short years we have gone from celebrating links with China to ripping up essential relationships and paving the ground for military conflict — we must now oppose Aukus and a new nuclear arms race, writes KEN LIVINGSTONE
Xi Jinping and former PM David Cameron in a pub in 2015

AS SOMEONE who lived through the first cold war against the Soviet Union and its allies, and who was in some important respects politically shaped by it — including in terms of my decades-long opposition to nuclear weapons — I recognise all too well the depressing signs of a new cold war against China, being fomented by the US, Britain and a handful of other countries.

Here in Britain, we’ve seen:

● A thriving relationship with Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei scuppered at US insistence, leaving 5G infrastructure to be ripped out of our networks, increasing costs to the Treasury and leaving us in the broadband slow lane.

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
Similar stories
NO FROM THE BEGINNING: Independent and Peaceful Australia Network rally to oppose the AUKUS security pact in Melbourne in December 2021 / Pic: Matt Hrkac/CC
Militarism / 31 July 2026
31 July 2026

MIKE MARTIN surveys the regional opposition to US attempts to force the region into a military confrontation with China

Friedrich Merz
Economy / 26 June 2026
26 June 2026

Friedrich Merz’s call for a new Plaza Accord ignores how Washington’s 1985 currency ambush destroyed Japan without fixing US deficits — China, a sovereign socialist state with 1.4 billion consumers, cannot be bullied the same way, writes CARLOS MARTINEZ

MUCH TO PONDER: President Donald Trump boards Air Force One on May 15 2026, at Beijing Capital International Airport - first from the left is China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi
Features / 21 May 2026
21 May 2026

JENNY CLEGG looks at the key points that defined the China-US relationship, for now

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer speaking during the 2026 UK-China Business Council at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, during his visit to China. The prime minister is visiting China with a delegation of almost 60 representatives of British businesses and cultural institutions as he continues his efforts to build bridges with Beijing, January 29, 2026
Diplomacy / 30 January 2026
30 January 2026

YUBIN DU explains why Britain and China should be natural partners in a restless world