(The New Alliance)(China is 'threat to world') - Lawmakers in Eight Countries Form New Alliance to Counter China

' “The time has come for democratic countries to unite in a common defense of our shared values,” Smith, the U.K. lawmaker, said on Twitter.'

'A group of senior lawmakers from eight democracies including the U.S. have launched a new cross-parliamentary alliance to help counter what they say is the threat China’s growing influence poses to global trade, security and human rights.

The Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, which launched Friday, comes as the U.S. struggles to muster a cohesive alliance to take on China’s growing economic and diplomatic clout and as it leads foreign governments in condemning Beijing’s move to impose national security legislation on Hong Kong that threatens the city’s autonomy.

The group said it aims to “construct appropriate and coordinated responses, and to help craft a proactive and strategic approach on issues related to the People’s Republic of China.” U.S. Republican Senator Marco Rubio and Democrat Bob Menendez, former Japanese defense minister Gen Nakatani, European Parliament foreign affairs committee member Miriam Lexmann and prominent U.K. Conservative lawmaker Iain Duncan Smith are all co-chairs of the newly launched group.

“China, under the rule of Chinese Communist Party, represents a global challenge,” Rubio, a frequent critic of Beijing and supporter of U.S. legislation targeting China over its actions in Hong Kong, said in a video message on Twitter.

..

Canada saw two of its citizens -- Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor -- detained without trial as a result of the arrest of a Chinese Huawei Technologies Co. executive. Norway saw trade relations with China derailed for six years -- and salmon exports plummet -- after a Chinese dissident was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

Australia’s efforts to hold China accountable for the Covid-19 pandemic, which first broke out in the mainland city of Wuhan, have led to new tariffs on Australian barley and bans on some meat.

“The time has come for democratic countries to unite in a common defense of our shared values,” Smith, the U.K. lawmaker, said on Twitter.'

- Bloomberg, Lawmakers in Eight Countries Form New Alliance to Counter China, June 5, 2020



Context

India soldiers killed in clash with Chinese forces, June 16, 2020

(China is 'threat to world') - India’s external affairs ministry blamed China for provoking the military escalation

China is 'threat to world' says dissident writer