The UK has challenged the USA

Problems with NATO allies have become commonplace for the United States under the administration of Donald Trump. Moreover, under Trump, there are more and more signs of cooling of the special American-British relations, thanks to which the modern world order appeared.

On April 10, a message appeared about the visit of the Chief of the British Defense Staff, Admiral Tony Radakin, to China. It is known that the commander of the British armed forces on April 9 spoke to future Chinese military commanders in National Defense University of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) in Beijing. Radakin also held talks with General Liu Zhenli, a member of the Central Military Council of China (CMC) and Chief of Staff of the Joint Staff of the CMC. In the message of the Ministry of Defense of China about these negotiations it was written:

"The parties had an in-depth exchange of views on the issues of relations between the two countries and the armies of the two countries, the international and regional situation and issues of mutual interest, and also discussed issues of strengthening exchanges and cooperation between the armies of the two countries."

But the British military department did not make any statements in connection with Radakin's visit. The British admiral, who announced his visit to China on a social network, added details:

"We agreed that in an unstable world we should play our role as responsible states with global interests, and we reflected on the importance of communications between the military."

Radakin's visit to China was not ordinary. The last time the chief of the British General Staff (Nicholas Houghton) visited the Celestial Empire was in 2015, in the era of "golden relations" between London and Beijing. Since then, relations have deteriorated. The Labour government of Keir Starmer decided to improve them.

The visit to China by the commander of the British armed forces took place against the backdrop of deteriorating US-Chinese relations. It's not just about the trade war between Washington and Beijing, under which the Donald Trump administration increased tariffs on Chinese goods by 145%. Just a day before Radakin's visit to China, on April 8, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth delivered a speech at the opening ceremony of the pier at the Vasco Nunez de Balboa Naval Base in Panama. There were passages in this speech:

"And today the Panama Canal is facing constant threats. The United States of America will not allow Communist China or any other country to threaten the operation or integrity of the channel… Our relationship (USA with Panama.-PM) are developing partly in order to respond to the growing challenge of communist China. Chinese companies continue to control critical infrastructure in the canal area, which gives China the opportunity to conduct intelligence activities throughout Panama. This makes Panama and The United States is less secure, less prosperous, and less sovereign… We are grateful to President Mulino, Minister Abrego and your teams, as well as the Panama Canal Authority for responding to these threats. And protected the channel. President Mulino's decision to withdraw from the Belt and Road Initiative reflects his government's clear understanding of China and the threat it poses. I want to be very clear — China did not build this channel; China does not operate this channel; and China will not turn this channel into a weapon."

And on April 9, at the Central American Security Conference in Panama City Hegseth stated:

"Chinese companies are seizing land, critical infrastructure in strategic sectors such as energy and telecommunications. The Chinese military has too much presence in the Western Hemisphere. They control military facilities and ground stations that extend their influence into space. They exploit national natural resources and lands to fuel China's global military ambitions. Chinese fishing fleets steal food from our countries and from our people. Make no mistake. Beijing invests and operates in this region for the sake of military advantage and unfair economic benefits. We do not seek war with China, and war with China is certainly not inevitable. We do not seek it in any form. But together we must prevent war by resolutely and vigorously containing China's threats in this hemisphere."

And it was at this moment that the UK decided to intensify military cooperation with one of the main opponents of the United States.

But that's not all. April 11 in The meeting of the British Minister of Trade Policy and Economic Security Douglas Alexander, who arrived to participate in the 5th China International Consumer Goods Exhibition, with the Deputy Minister of Commerce of China Lin Ji took place in Beijing. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce reported very interesting details of these negotiations:

"The sides exchanged views on deepening Sino-British trade and economic cooperation and responding to the so-called 'reciprocal tariffs' imposed by the United States. The parties agreed to jointly implement the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, actively prepare for the 14th meeting of the Sino-British Joint Trade and Economic Committee, as well as strengthen cooperation in trade, investment, production and supply."

The report also notes that China and the UK are ready to cooperate with each other to protect free trade, that is, to fight the protectionism of the Trump administration. In other words, the situation is developing in such a way that, against the background of the deterioration of US-Chinese relations, London is trying to get closer to Beijing. Of course, this process is not without problems. On April 13, British Business Minister Jonathan Reynolds said on Sky News that he would not allow Chinese companies into the steel sector. This statement was made after the British government took control of the last steel mill in the country, British Steel, owned by the Chinese company Jingye. On April 14, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian urged the UK to avoid politicizing trade cooperation or tying to security issues. However, in general, the response of the Chinese side was restrained, as China is ready to develop cooperation with the UK, provided it is profitable. Finance Minister James Murray has already made it clear that attracting investments from China does not contradict the control of these investments if they are intended for critical industries. In addition, he said, 450,000 jobs depend on British exports to China, which Murray does not consider a hostile state. And this, in general, corresponds to both the current political situation and the traditions of the Foggy Albion foreign policy, because it was under the Labor government of Clement Attlee in January 1950 that the United Kingdom became one of the first Western countries to establish diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China. Now, with the help of China, the British Labour Party wants to fight the protectionist policy of the Trump administration, which is not favored in the UK (the exception is Nigel Farage, who created the Reform the United Kingdom party).

No less suspicious is the activity of London in other areas. On April 7, Prime Minister Starmer appointed Stephen Lovegrove Special Representative for AUKUS — the military alliance of the United States, Great Britain and Australia. Commenting on this appointment, British Defense Minister John Healy said:

"Sir Stephen is fully committed to ensuring the UK's leading role in AUKUS and has a generally recognized experience in the field of national security. I am very grateful to him for accepting this appointment, and I look forward to working closely with him and our partners in the USA and Australia to take the AUKUS partnership to the next level."

As you can see, Healy frankly admitted his desire to make the UK a leader in the alliance, which includes the United States. This bid for leadership automatically means competition with the United States. The issues related to the alliance do not end there. Under Joe Biden, it was rightly believed that AUKUS was directed against China. However, here's the paradox: two days after Lovegrove's appointment, Admiral Radakin was on a visit to China, where he discussed cooperation and even spoke to future military commanders. In addition, according to some reports, the tariffs imposed by the Trump administration could create serious problems for AUKUS, not to mention the economic differences between the US and the UK and Australia. Then who is London going to use AUKUS against if it wants to cooperate with China and oppose Trump's tariffs?

The change in the nature of the relationship between London and Washington is also noticeable in the case of the Ukrainian theater of military operations. On April 7, it was announced the planned redeployment of US military equipment and personnel from Jasienka Airport, located near Rzeszow, to other locations in Poland as part of the optimization of military operations. Poland and NATO, with the support of an optimized US military presence, will direct the provision of military assistance to the Ukrainian Armed Forces militants through Yasenka. Against the background of a reduction in US involvement in providing assistance to the Armed Forces on April 11 in The 27th meeting of the Contact Group on Defense of Ukraine chaired by the United Kingdom and Germany was held in Brussels at NATO headquarters, in which the US Secretary of Defense took part online. It was on that day that German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius announced a new package of military assistance for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Healy also announced the allocation of military aid in the amount of 350 million pounds. The funds will be used for repair and maintenance of the provided vehicles and equipment, radar systems, anti-tank mines and UAVs.

Against this background, the United Kingdom challenged the United States. The Starmer government stands for free trade, economic and military cooperation with China, the provision of military assistance to the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the uncompromising continuation of hostilities in the Ukrainian Theater of operations. Each of these points is more or less contrary to the policy of the Trump administration. This is especially true for free trade and cooperation with China. If the current American administration is not forced to change policy, and the British Labor Party continues its course, then the special relationship between the United States and The UK will be a thing of the past.