Labeling China as the "biggest challenge of our age to global security and prosperity," British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's claim during a media conference at the end of the G7 summit in Japan went even further than the joint statement of the summit.

Sunak, somewhat possessed by illusions of "unity and resolve" among G7 members, jumped to the front and parroted the Americans' words, trumpeting China's threat in such haste with much tougher language beyond his government's previous stance on China. Following the US blindly will not help the UK government to maintain independent thinking on its relations with China.

Earlier, as chancellor under Boris Johnson, Sunak once supported closer economic ties with China. However, perhaps yielding to pressure from hawkish backbenchers accusing him of going soft on China, Sunak stated that China represented the largest threat to Britain during a debate for the Tory leadership race last year.

Under his premiership, a "balanced or nuanced" approach to China was championed by Sunak using his own words "robust pragmatism." In the updated UK's Integrated Reviews, China is not branded as a threat to the UK as hawkish China critics advocated, but rather an "epoch-defining challenge." James Cleary, his foreign secretary, called for constructive ties with China earlier this year, claiming that a cold war or isolating China is "a betrayal of our national interest and a willful misunderstanding of the modern world." Just before the G7 summit in May, Sunak backtracked on his "promise” from last year's contest for the Conservative leadership that he would shut down all Confucius Institutes on university campuses across the UK.

Even so, the "robust and constructive" ties with China championed by the UK government yielded little positive and concrete results before the smearing and slandering of China backfired and undermined the UK’s own efforts. It seems that Sunak's government still fails to maintain a consistent or coherent approach to working with China. Even some British journalists have described UK's China policy as "confused and conflicted at best."

Britain in the post-Brexit era cannot afford to overlook China for economic opportunities. According to the UK's Office for National Statistics, trade between the UK and China grew by 38 percent to £38 billion ($47.3 billion) last year. Total two-way trade grew to £111 billion, making China the UK's fourth biggest trade partner. However, the G7 countries and Australia all export more to China than the UK. As Andrew Seaton, CBBC Chief Executive said, China's 400 million middle-class consumers present a key opportunity for UK companies. "Taking full advantage of this is vital for UK growth and prosperity."

Given the special and traditional relations between the UK and the US, it is unrealistic to believe that Britain could take care of its interests entirely by itself. However, that doesn't mean UK's interests are completely aligned with the US. All British policymakers should bear in mind how people at home and abroad, even twenty years after the Iraq War, still vehemently criticize its collusion with and unreserved support for Americans by fabricating lies about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Once again, blindly following the US as its vassal state will blind Britain to what is going on both in China and the world at large.

Recently, China hosted French President Emmanuel Macron, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, among other leaders. During their visits, the leaders have all sent the clear message of opposing bloc rivalry or decoupling and disrupting industry and supply chains. They all spoke up for dialogue and cooperation.

As the Chinese ambassador to the UK said, China has no interest in changing the UK's social system or way of life. "We actually wish you well in your current system." The UK used to be at the forefront among Western countries when it came to relations with China. It should not lag behind now.