China is rising as the US declines. Britain can’t ignore this reality | Martin Jacques

China’s human rights are improving, and this relationship offers the UK opportunities that would otherwise be impossible

Who would have guessed just three years ago that the David Cameron government would be the author of the boldest change in British foreign policy since the second world war? That is exactly what is now unfolding.

The process began this year when the British government announced it would join a Chinese initiative to help fund Asia’s enormous infrastructural needs. The UK became the first non-Asian country to join the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), after which more than 30 other countries joined, including Germany and France.

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