Why the UK is in a 'Brexit bind' over Hong Kong

RELATIONS between the United Kingdom and China are cooling sharply in the wake of the worst political unrest in Hong Kong in decades. While this represents a big political headache for Beijing, the overall challenge may be even greater for London in the context of its post-Brexit dependence on growing economic ties with fast-growing economies in Asia and beyond.

In recent days, the two candidates running to become the UK's next prime minister, Jeremy Hunt and Boris Johnson, have squarely defended the protestors. Foreign Secretary Hunt, for instance, called on Beijing not to use the demonstrations against a proposed Hong Kong law allowing for extradition of people to mainland China as a "pretext for repression".

Yet, despite this rhetoric, both Mr Hunt and Mr Johnson will be aware that bilateral relations went into a deep freeze in 2012, when then-Prime Minister David Cameron offended Beijing by meeting with the Dalai Lama. It is for this reason that the Conservative governments of both Mr Cameron and Theresa May ratcheted down, in public at least, human rights concerns about China. Relations then entered what was called a "golden era" with the visit to the UK by Chinese leader Xi Jinping in 2015.