Downing Street candidate Liz Truss on Wednesday vowed to strengthen economic ties between Commonwealth countries as a bulwark against China, days after her rival Rishi Sunak made Beijing the main threat to the United Kingdom.
On the occasion of the opening of the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the big favorite according to the polls, wants to facilitate bilateral trade agreements within this alliance of 54 states inherited from the British Empire.
“Global Britain”
"I will ensure that the Commonwealth is at the heart of my plans for 'Global Britain'"
, a term that designates the ambitions of the post-Brexit United Kingdom to exist on the international scene, said Liz Truss in a press release.
"We need to ensure there are clear benefits to remaining in the Commonwealth and provide nations with a clear alternative to Beijing's growing malign influence
," she added.
“Prioritizing trade with Commonwealth countries will strengthen economic and security ties, while increasing opportunities for British businesses to access one of the largest economic blocs in the world,”
he said .
she continued.
This statement by candidate Liz Truss comes days after her opponent delivered a thinly veiled attack on her former government colleague Johnson, saying that London had
"ignored China's evil activities for too long"
, that he calls
the UK 's
'greatest long-term threat' .
Since the start of the campaign, sparked by the resignation of Boris Johnson in the face of a succession of resignations due to a succession of scandals, Liz Truss, 47, and Rishi Sunak, 42, have clashed mainly on taxation.
The first promises a tax cut
"from day one"
, the second only once after an improvement in the situation on the inflation front.
Members of the Conservative party, estimated at around 200,000, must vote during the month of August and until September 2.
The announcement of the result is expected on September 5.