Fleming, head of the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), a British communications intelligence unit, pointed out that the UK could not replicate Taiwan's semiconductor production capacity and scale. The Taiwan Strait incident would impact the global supply chain and economic growth, as well as the UK's strategic resilience.
He mentioned that for Chinese leaders, all countries can be divided into two categories: potential enemies or potential vassal countries, which can be lured, intimidated or coerced by China.
However, the leadership of the Communist Party of China, eager to control everything, is actually controlled by "fear": they fear their own citizens, freedom of speech, free trade, and open technical standards and international alliances. They fear openness and democracy, as well as a rule-based international order. Fear also drives Beijing authorities to manipulate technology.
Jeremy Fleming was invited today to be the keynote speaker of the annual lecture on security affairs at the Royal Joint Military Institute (RUSI), a British think tank. The theme is "If China is the question, what is the Answer?", The speech lasted about 40 minutes, during which China was mentioned 30 times and Taiwan twice. In addition to China, he also touched on the Russian threat.
Fleming pointed out that China has once again become a power, and scientific and technological innovation is the key to the growth of China's national strength. China knows the magic of science and technology, and deliberately and patiently tries to gain strategic advantages through shaping the world's scientific and technological ecosystem.
He stressed that the UK does not oppose the rise of China, nor is it hostile to the Chinese people; In fact, the UK expects to compete and cooperate with a strong China. The core concern of the UK is how the Chinese Communist Party uses or "misuses" the power of science and technology.
Fleming mentioned that while the UK and its allies with similar ideas regard science and technology as a tool to strengthen freedom, prosperity, global cooperation and fair competition, Chinese leaders try to gain greater control over the market and people at home and abroad through the power of science and technology.
He gave an example of China's scientific and technological strength, including that in terms of the number of patents, China has been a leader in the world in the past 10 years. In 2019, 43% of global patent applications came from China. In addition, 11% of UK research reports have Chinese authors. Beijing is making full use of its resources to try to rewrite international security rules in a way never seen before, and subvert and transform international security norms.
Fleming pointed out that Chinese leaders are trying to steal information from key infrastructure of various countries, promote new international communication norms, and expand the target of monitoring from their own citizens to other countries. Beijing's promotion of digital currencies that can be centrally controlled is not only intended to strengthen control over citizens and enterprises, but also to help China avoid possible international sanctions in the future.
The Communist Party's ambition to control everything goes as far as space. Fleming mentioned that the Beidou satellite navigation system developed by China has developed rapidly, which can guide aircraft, submarines, missiles and various commercial services. This system has been seen in Chinese products exported to more than 120 countries. Many people have studied and judged that China is building a strong anti satellite capability to prevent other countries from obtaining information from space when military conflicts break out.
In the face of the strategic threat from China, Fleming proposed several solutions, including giving the government more authority to intervene in transactions that may affect national security through legislation, strengthening international cooperation, expanding and deepening national security related technology investment, such as quantum computing.
Fleming finally stressed that he did not call for the exclusion or marginalization of China, but hoped that China would realize that it would benefit it to be a responsible actor in the global system.
Fleming said that as a responsible actor, China can work with other countries to formulate new rules. On the contrary, if China prefers to subvert and undermine the international security order, science and technology system and the global market, it will eventually have to pay the price.
After the speech, Fleming accepted questions. Some listeners were concerned about China's investment activities in the United Kingdom, cooperation between British universities and Chinese entities in security sensitive areas, and Chinese students becoming an important source of income for British universities and colleges.
Fleming responded that he believed that the United Kingdom should continue to welcome Chinese students and try to benefit from them, but the United Kingdom must clearly define the boundaries of bilateral cooperation and set up a defense mechanism, and clearly express its position to the Chinese authorities. It is a mature attitude not only to safeguard sovereign interests, but also to remain open to cooperation on equal terms.
Fleming took office in 2017. Last year, he twice warned China's ambition in the Internet field through speeches, including why China should develop digital RMB.
The British Parliament adjourned today. The bills to be considered next include the National Security Act, the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Act, and the Higher Education Act, which all contain malicious actors such as China and Russia.
At the same time, the British government has started to revise the Integrated Review of Foreign and National Defense Security Policies issued in March last year, which is expected to increase the proportion of analysis on China and the assessment of threats to China, and is expected to be released before the end of this year.
