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LONDON: Rishi Sunak on Sunday promised to get tough on China if he becomes Britain’s next prime minister, calling the Asian superpower the “number one threat” to domestic and global security. The former finance minister’s pledge comes after his rival in the final two of the race to lead the ruling Conservative party, Liz Truss, accused him of being weak on China and Russia. China’s state-run Global Times has previously said Sunak was the only candidate in the contest with “a clear and pragmatic view on developing UK-China ties.” The Daily Mail, which has come out for Foreign Secretary Truss in the race to succeed Boris Johnson, called that “the endorsement that nobody wanted.” Sunak’s proposals include the closure of all 30 Confucius Institutes in Britain, preventing the soft-power spread of Chinese influence through culture and language programs. He also promised to “kick the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) out of our universities” by forcing higher education establishments to disclose foreign funding of more than £50,000 ($60,000) and reviewing research partnerships. Britain’s domestic spy agency MI5 would be used to help combat Chinese espionage, and he would look to build “NATO-style” international co-operation to tackle Chinese threats in cyberspace. He would also study the case for banning Chinese acquisitions of key British assets, including strategically sensitive tech firms. Sunak claimed that China was “stealing our technology and infiltrating our universities” at home, “propping up” Vladimir Putin abroad by buying Russian oil, as well as attempting to bully neighbors including Taiwan. He hit out at China’s global “belt and road” scheme for “saddling developing countries with insurmountable debt.” “They torture, detain and indoctrinate their own people, including in Xinjiang and Hong Kong, in contravention of their human rights. And they have continually rigged the global economy in their favor by suppressing their currency,” he added. “Enough is enough. For too long, politicians in Britain and across the West have rolled out the red carpet and turned a blind eye to China’s nefarious activity and ambitions. “I will change this on Day 1 as PM.”

Sunak’s tough-talking will doubtless please China hawks in the Tory ranks, who have repeatedly pushed Johnson to stand up more to Beijing. But it is also a sign of how Sunak is desperately trying to claw back ground on Truss, whom opinion polls have put well ahead in the crucial hunt for votes from the 200,000 grassroots Tory members. A winner will be announced on September 5. Truss has similarly urged a tougher approach, calling for the G7 to become an “economic NATO” against Chinese threats and warned Beijing of sanctions if they did not play by international rules. It aligns both with warnings from MI5 and the FBI about a surge in Chinese commercial espionage in the West. Yet British government policy when both Sunak and Truss were in Johnson’s cabinet has warned about China before. In March last year, its integrated review of security, defense and foreign policy called China “the biggest state-based threat to the UK’s economic security.” Under fierce political pressure from Washington, it banned Chinese technology giant Huawei from involvement in the roll-out of Britain’s 5G network. Laws have been tightened to make it harder for foreign firms, including those from China, to buy British businesses in sensitive sectors such as defense, energy and transport. At the same time, London has recognized that China’s power and international assertiveness was here to stay, and called Beijing a “systemic competitor.” In July last year, Sunak himself called for a more nuanced approach to the debate on China. “We need a mature and balanced relationship,” he said in his Mansion House speech as chancellor of the exchequer. “That means being eyes wide open about their increasing international influence and continuing to take a principled stand on issues we judge to contravene our values.”

RIYADH: Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and French President Emmanuel Macron discussed the importance of stabilizing global energy markets and food supplies during the crown prince’s visit to France, a Saudi-French joint statement published by state news agency (SPA) reported on Friday.

Both leaders also agreed to boost cooperation on renewable energy, including solar energy and clean hydrogen, they said in the joint statement.

Macron and Prince Mohammed discussed the importance of ensuring uninterrupted supplies of wheat and grains to countries across the world to help stabilize prices.

They also reviewed the need for continued evaluation of the threats facing both countries and the security and stability of the Middle East, read the SPA statement.

Boosting cooperation in defense and joining efforts to combat terrorism were also a key part of the discussion between both leaders.

TASHKENT: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday that Moscow would soon propose a time for a call with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in which Blinken has said he wants to discuss an exchange of prisoners held in Russian and US jails. Blinken said on Wednesday that Washington had made a “substantial offer” to obtain the release of US basketball star Brittney Griner and former Marine Paul Whelan, both detained in Russia. A source said that Washington was willing to exchange convicted arms trafficker Viktor Bout, jailed in the United States, as part of such a deal. Blinken and Biden have not spoken since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24. Families of the US detainees have been increasing pressure on President Joe Biden, most recently in the case of two-time Olympic gold medallist Griner, who was arrested on drugs charges at a Moscow airport on Feb. 17. Lavrov told a news conference that talks on prisoner exchanges had been taking place since a summit in Geneva last year where presidents Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden had agreed to nominate officials to look into the issue. He said his ministry was not involved in that, but “nevertheless, I will listen to what he (Blinken) has to say.” Speaking during a trip to Uzbekistan, Lavrov said he would talk to Blinken when he returned to his office. “It’s clear this is unlikely to work out today. But in the coming days we will offer our American colleagues a convenient date,” he said. 

KYIV: Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine claimed that at least 40 Ukrainian prisoners of war captured during the fighting for Mariupol have been killed by Ukrainian shelling. Daniil Bezsonov, a spokesman for the Russia-backed separatists in the Donetsk region, said that at least 40 Ukrainian prisoners of war were killed and 130 were injured Friday when Ukrainian shelling hit a prison in the town of Olenivka. The Ukrainian Armed Forces later denied carrying out the airstrikes. The Ukrainian troops were taken prisoner after the fierce fighting for Ukraine’s Azov Sea port of Mariupol, where they holed up at the giant Azovstal steel mill for months. The Azov Regiment and other Ukrainian units defended the steel mill for nearly three months, clinging to its underground maze of tunnels. They surrendered in May under relentless Russian attacks from the ground, sea and air. Scores of Ukrainian soldiers were then taken to prisons in Russian-controlled areas such as the Donetsk region, a breakaway area in eastern Ukraine which is run by Russia-backed separatist authorities. In other developments, Ukrainian officials said Russian forces shelled the country’s second-largest city, Kharkiv. City mayor Ihor Terekhov said a central part of the northeastern city was hit, including a two-story building and a higher education institution. Terekhov said the strike occurred just after 4 a.m. on Friday. “The State Emergency Service is already working — they are sorting out the rubble, looking for people under them,” Terekhov said in a Telegram update.

MOSCOW: Eight people died in a blaze in a 15-story building in Moscow overnight, after a fire alarm malfunctioned, officials said Friday. The fire erupted in the building in a southeastern district, an agency investigating criminal acts said, adding that four people were hospitalized. Emergency services said the blaze broke out on the ground floor of the building, adding that the flames were doused soon after midnight and that more than 200 people were evacuated. A senior emergency official told TASS news agency that a fire alarm in a hostel malfunctioned and that the people inside were trapped as all the windows had metal bars. A criminal negligence case has been opened. Russian buildings are regularly struck by fires and gas leaks blamed on poor maintenance, infrastructure or negligence.

MANILA: The Philippines has detected its first case of monkeypox in a person with a history of overseas travel, officials said Friday. The announcement comes within a week of the World Health Organization declaring the monkeypox outbreak a global health emergency. Philippine officials did not identify the gender of the person, only saying they were 31 years old and tested positive on Thursday after an RT-PCR test. “The case had prior travel to countries with documented monkeypox cases,” said Beverly Ho, an acting undersecretary for the Department of Health. “Ten close contacts were recorded, of which three are from the same household. All have been advised to quarantine and are being monitored by the department.” A surge in monkeypox infections has been reported since May outside the West and Central African countries where the disease has long been endemic. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Wednesday that more than 18,000 cases have now been reported to the organization from 78 countries, with 70 percent of them in Europe and 25 percent in the Americas. Five deaths have been reported in the outbreak since May, he said. The Philippines sought to head off potential panic, saying monkeypox was not like Covid-19. “This is not like Covid that can be spread by air very easily and could possibly be fatal,” said Trixie Cruz-Angeles, press secretary for President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. “This is not particularly fatal.” Ho said the Philippines was working with the United States to secure monkeypox vaccines.