British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on Monday night that the “golden era” between Great Britain and China was over, advocating a more pragmatic approach to the “systemic challenge” posed by Beijing after the arrest of a BBC journalist in Shanghai.

“Let’s be clear, the famous ‘golden age’ is over, as is the naïve idea that trade will automatically lead to political and social reform,” Rishi Sunak said of the warming of Sino-British relations since 2015 under David Cameron.

In his first major foreign policy speech at the Guildhall, a palace in the City of London, the prime minister assessed that China now poses “a systemic challenge to our values ​​and interests, a challenge that is becoming more apparent as the country evolves towards even greater authoritarianism”.

The case of the BBC reporter has worsened relations between the UK and China

His comments came after the arrest and police violence of a BBC journalist covering demonstrations in Shanghai.

The BBC said on Sunday night that its journalist Ed Lawrence had been “arrested and handcuffed while covering demonstrations in Shanghai”. According to the British broadcasting giant, “he was beaten and kicked by the police” before he was released.

Fueled by the mobilization against the quarantine and restrictions imposed by the authorities to fight the coronavirus epidemic, the anger that is growing in China seems unprecedented since the pro-democracy demonstrations that were suppressed in blood in 1989.

“Instead of listening to the protests of its people, the Chinese government has decided to increase repression, especially by attacking a BBC journalist,” the British Prime Minister condemned.

“The media – and our parliamentarians – must cover these issues with impunity,” he insisted.

The BBC reported that he had received “no official explanation or apology from the Chinese authorities, other than the officials who later released him saying that they detained him for his own good if he contracted COVID-19 in the crowd.” it’s a plausible explanation,” adds the BBC.

Beijing said Monday that Ed Lawrence did not identify himself as a journalist “and did not voluntarily provide press credentials,” according to Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian.

The incident only worsened already strained relations between Beijing and London amid sharp criticism from the United Kingdom, particularly over China’s takeover of Hong Kong and a series of recent incidents on British soil.

Rushi Sunak: China is the “number one threat” to London

But, if the Prime Minister said that he wants to “develop” the approach of the United Kingdom to the Asian country, in his opinion, “China’s place in world affairs” should not be “ignored”.

On Monday, the spokesman for the head of government called the journalist’s arrest “shocking and unacceptable.” “But that doesn’t mean we won’t seek a constructive relationship with China on other issues,” such as the fight against global warming or the economy.

A speech that appears to have softened after Rishi Sunak called China the “number one threat” to London during his Downing Street campaign.

The United Kingdom has recently been highlighted by the violence suffered by a pro-democracy activist from Hong Kong at the Chinese consulate in Manchester (North), as well as information from a Spanish NGO that Beijing has opened underground police stations in several Western countries, especially on British territory.

Responding to Ed Lawrence’s arrest, British Secretary of State for Security Tom Tugendhat said the case echoes “repressions” the Chinese Communist Party is trying to implement “elsewhere.”

“Attempted state repression here in the UK reminds us of the urgent need to protect our own freedoms,” he wrote on Twitter.