London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Tuesday, Oct 07, 2025

UK foreign policy review will focus on China's growing power

UK foreign policy review will focus on China's growing power

Post-Brexit reset of priorities likely to seek greater diplomatic and military influence in east Asia and India

Downing Street’s delayed post-Brexit review of defence and foreign policy will be published on 16 March, which promises to reset Britain’s international priorities with an Indo-Pacific tilt aimed at creating a democratic counterweight to China.

The integrated review is expected to argue for a strengthening of the UK’s military and diplomatic position in south and east Asia at a time of heightened concern on the Conservative benches about the growing power of Beijing.

Publication date was confirmed earlier on Friday by Downing Street to be followed by a defence command paper on 22 March, detailing a five-year plan for the armed forces in response to the wider strategy.

A leaked document seen by the Guardian showed that plans to be announced shortly include investing in “China-facing capabilities” to “better understand and respond to the systemic challenge that China poses” – thought particularly to focus on cybersecurity.

The UK will also “pursue deeper engagements in the Indo-Pacific” region, and more regularly deploy the armed forces overseas, as well as bolster efforts to detect, deter and respond to “state threats”.

Key issues to be resolved include the detail of the deployment of UK’s new Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier, which is due to sail to the Pacific and may be deployed in the South China Sea, where China claims territorial waters.

Critics argue that the UK lacks the strength to have a major influence in the far east, and while defence capital spending was substantially increased in an announcement made by Boris Johnson in November, aid budgets have been slashed while pressure on revenue budgets in defence remains.

The defence command paper is expected to confirm a cut in the size of the British army to 72,500 from a nominal target of 82,000, although its actual size is 75,310. The fleet of ageing Challenger tanks is likely to be cut by around a third.

Labour urged ministers to be realistic. John Healey, the shadow defence secretary, said previous strategic reviews had been “overambitious and underfunded”, ultimately weakening the foundations for the armed forces. “This review must not make the same mistakes and must not duck tough decisions,” he added.

Whitehall sources said they expected the IR to be a relatively short aspirational document, in effect a definition of Boris Johnson’s loose Global Britain agenda, with key details to follow.

According to the presentation shared with civil servants, Johnson will also announce plans to reform the World Health Organization and restate that the US remains Britain’s most important ally. Reflecting Brexit, it added that the UK should be being prepared to diverge from Europe “where it is in our interests”.

The review has been repeatedly delayed by the pandemic. Most recently it had been hoped that a visit by Johnson in January to India for a summit with the prime minister, Narendra Modi, would act as a springboard for the new strategy.

But the trip had to be postponed to later in the spring as the disease took off at home, although Downing Street had already invited Modi and the leaders of South Korea and Australia to attend the G7 meeting being hosted by the UK in Cornwall in June.

Downing Street also confirmed that it had asked Gen Sir Nick Carter, the head of the armed forces, to remain in post until November to bed in the review – while Stephen Lovegrove, the permanent secretary at the MoD, moves over to become Johnson’s national security adviser.

Carter’s replacement is expected to come from among the service chiefs. Strong contenders are considered to be Sir Patrick Sanders, head of strategic command, covering cyber and special forces, and Adm Tony Radakin, the first sea lord, who heads the Royal Navy.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
×