image source,Reuters
Truss, the British foreign secretary, defeated former Chancellor of the Exchequer Sunak in an election within the ruling Conservative Party to become the new party leader and will become the new prime minister.
Britain’s ruling Conservative Party announced on Monday (September 5, 2022) that it has elected a new leader, Liz Truss, to replace Prime Minister Johnson who was forced to resign due to scandal.
Truss defeated former Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak to become Conservative leader in an election voted by some 140,000 members of Britain’s Conservative Party.
According to tradition, Truss should immediately go to Buckingham Palace to meet the Queen, who will entrust her to form a new government team. But this year, because the Queen is already at Balmoral Castle in Scotland, Truss will not officially become Prime Minister until Tuesday to meet the Queen there.
The United Kingdom that Truss took over can be described as “internal and external trouble”: the United Kingdom is still shrouded in the economic downturn caused by the new crown epidemic, and the international energy prices have soared due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, making the domestic inflation problem in the United Kingdom “worse” and prices soaring; the original plan After Brexit, the United Kingdom, who has gone solo in the world, still has not clarified the various restrictions and constraints after Brexit; the United States is competing with China, and the “new Cold War” is overcast, and the relationship between the United Kingdom and China is tense because of the Hong Kong issue…
“Iron Lady” gets tough on China
Truss, 47 years old, was elected to the British House of Commons in 2010. He has served in the cabinets of three Conservative Prime Ministers, Cameron, Theresa May and Johnson, as the Minister of Education, Minister of Justice and Secretary of International Trade. Minister.
Truss acts and dresses in the style of the “Iron Lady” Margaret Thatcher, the first female prime minister of the United Kingdom, so she is considered to be aspiring to become the second “Iron Lady”.
During her campaign, she has always said that after becoming prime minister, she will take swift action to deal with Britain’s inflation rate of up to 10%, revive the recession-prone economy, and reduce soaring energy bills for British households.
Truss vs Sunak: TV battle between two Conservative candidates vying for UK positions
On foreign policy, Truss pledged to update the UK’s comprehensive foreign defense assessment to focus more on threats from China and Russia.
After the US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan in early August this year, China held large-scale military exercises around Taiwan for several days. Truss, the British foreign secretary, said in a statement: “I have instructed officials to summon the Chinese ambassador and ask him to explain China’s actions. We have seen Beijing’s actions and rhetoric become increasingly aggressive in recent months, which threatens to threaten the regional peace and stability.”
British media quoted people close to Truss last week as saying that as prime minister, she would officially see China as a serious threat to British national security and no longer a country with which Britain has an economic partnership.
Zhao Lijian, a spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, once responded, “I would advise individual politicians in the UK to talk about China at every turn and hype up the so-called ‘China threat theory’. These are irresponsible remarks, and they will not solve the UK’s own problems.”
The outside world is concerned about how Truss will adjust his China policy after he becomes prime minister.
Seven big questions for the new prime minister
In fact, no matter who becomes prime minister, Britain faces the same difficulties and challenges. The BBC lists seven challenges for the new prime minister, both domestically and internationally:
- As energy prices soar in winter, how can we help people afford their daily expenses?
- The medical system NHS is increasingly overwhelmed after the impact of the new crown epidemic. How to face the peak incidence in winter?
- Ukrainian War: Should We Continue to Help Ukraine to Resist Russia at All Costs?
- How to unite the ruling Conservative Party, which has been torn apart by the leadership election?
- How to deal with the demands of another Scottish independence referendum?
- How to resolve the possible impact of the Northern Ireland problems caused by Brexit on relations with the EU?
- How to realize the goal of zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 under the energy crisis?