Conservative MP Iain Duncan Smith came under fire from Nigel Farage over the issue of China during a lively interview.
It comes after a new review suggested China poses an ‘epoch-defining challenge’ to the world order.
The Tory MP faced questions from the GB News presenter as to where Britain stands on the issue.
When asked “where the hell” the UK is on China, the 68-year-old MP responded: “well, we’re moving.”
Iain Duncan Smith answered questions on Britain's stance on China on GB News
GB News
Farage abruptly interrupted, asking: “What on earth does that mean!?”
Iain Duncan Smith stated: “You grab what you’ve got and you take it somewhere else.
“The truth is, they’re a threat, they’re a multidimensional threat, whether it’s commerce, whether its IPs, whether it’s actually trade, whether it’s war, difference or military.
“They’ve already invaded the South China seas, they’re carrying out terrible human rights abuses.
Xi Jinping poses an exponential international threat, according to Nigel Farage
gbnews“We don’t need much more evidence to know that this country is a threat and growing to be an even greater threat.”
Farage then grilled Iain Duncan Smith over his party’s Government making the UK ever more dependent on Xi Jinping’s nation.
Duncan Smith stated: “This is the whole problem. It happened very much under the watch of Tony Blair but it continued under the Government I was a part of.
“The Golden Decade has proven to be nothing but fools gold.
“The truth is, too many businesses turned to China to get things made cheaply. We’ve got to find some allies to move that production to.”
It comes as China accused the UK, US and Australia of fuelling a new arms race after an agreement by the three powers to develop a new generation of nuclear-powered submarines.
China’s Foreign Ministry said the pact arose from a “typical Cold War mentality”, accusing the UK and US of violating the terms of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in transferring weapons-grade enriched uranium to a non-nuclear weapons power.
At a daily briefing in Beijing, spokesman Wenbin Wang said: “The latest joint statement issued by the US, UK, and Australia shows that the three countries have gone further down the wrong and dangerous path for their own geopolitical self-interest, completely ignoring the concerns of the international community.”
It follows Monday’s summit in San Diego, California, where Rishi Sunak, US president Joe Biden and Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese set out details of the latest stage of the Aukus partnership.
Under the agreement intended to counter China’s increasing military assertiveness in the Pacific, Australia will get its first nuclear-powered submarines.
It will also provide the Royal Navy with replacements for its seven Astute submarines, potentially doubling the size of the fleet of its attack boats.
