How Will Liz Truss’s Election as the UK’s New PM Affect China-Global South Relations?

New Conservative Party leader and Britain's Prime Minister-elect Liz Truss. ADRIAN DENNIS / AFP

Liz Truss’s rise to Prime Minister-elect of the United Kingdom is likely to raise tensions with China and increase Great Power competition in the Indo-Pacific region.

Truss won an internal Conservative Party election following the resignation of former PM Boris Johnson. She is scheduled to face a general election by 2025. Because her campaign directly appealed to party insiders, she likely took more hawkish positions that could prove tricky to implement in practice. These challenges come as she attempts to increase the UK’s profile in Asia as part of its Global Britain initiative.

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