British diplomatic tradition and Boris Johnson's experience and character all hint at London exercising "principled pragmatism" in its China policy during his tenure as prime minister.

That is to say, the United Kingdom will develop its ties with China based on whether it is in the UK's interests and adopt a rational and pragmatic attitude in such fields as economy, trade, science and technology. It may continue to denounce China ideologically, but in a moderate and tacit way, exercising restraint on issues such as Hong Kong, Tibet and the South China Sea.

The reason the Johnson administration will be rational and pragmatic in its approach to China is Britain's keen international nose and deep foreign relations background. Among Western countries, the UK is well-known for its profound diplomatic tradition, broad global vision and mature political experience.

Certainly, the predictions are useful for policy references on the conditions that this prime minister survives toughly conflicting British parliamentary politics.

Historically, Britain has been keenly attuned to fundamental trends in international politics and has been able to preemptively adapt to them. Up to this day, British diplomacy still inherits the tradition of broad vision, flexibility and pragmatism. Once Britain identifies a situation, it quickly acts. In 2015, after the UK took the lead in joining the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, other Western countries responded one after another.

In recent years, Britain has been more open to Chinese investment than any other Western country. The Economist once lamented: "Remarkably, there has been little discussion of such strategy change in Britain. This will change the country's role in the world. The British are shifting resources from Europe to China, from the political table to the trade table."

Johnson has always attached great importance to Sino-UK ties, especially economic and trade ties. A journalist by training, Johnson saw China's potential earlier and more accurately than most Western politicians. Although he wrote in The Daily Telegraph in 2005 that "our children don't need to learn Mandarin and China won't dominate the world", he soon admitted that he had been wrong and began learning Chinese himself. He now even calls himself a "fan of China" in his tweets.

When he was mayor of London, Johnson paid a friendly visit to China and emphasized his hope and support for strengthening Sino-UK trade cooperation. His tendency to accord great value to Sino-British economic and trade ties was evident in his attitude toward China when he was the British foreign secretary.

During former prime minister Theresa May's visit to China in 2016, Johnson said he was committed to strengthening trade links with China and opening wider channels for UK service sector exports to China and Chinese investment in the UK.

In Johnson's view, the growing number of Chinese citizens traveling to and studying in the UK provides a huge market for the country. Johnson has also played a positive role in promoting the steady development of China-UK relations since they entered the "golden era".

For example, when China and the UK celebrated the 45th anniversary of diplomatic relations in 2017, Johnson, as British foreign secretary, made a special video recording in which he not only reviewed achievements made since the establishment of diplomatic ties, but also expressed his expectation of a further strengthening bilateral relations.

It's anybody's guess how things will pan out should the UK leave the European Union. As of Sept 5, the opposition Labour Party had won a go-ahead for a bill that would mean Britain asking the EU to extend its departure date.

If the UK leaves the EU, the Johnson administration is likely to rely more heavily on the potential and growth rate of the Chinese market.

And the Chinese market will become increasingly important to the UK if its trade deals with the United States, Japan and others end up biting the dust. Johnson is fully aware of this and is likely to continue Britain's positive attitude toward China's Belt and Road Initiative and related proposals.

Moreover, when the UK is out of the EU, it will need to maintain a friendly and stable bilateral relationship with China as one of the guarantees to safeguard its national interests and international status.

The new administration faces a litmus test with regard to Huawei's participation in the UK's 5G network construction. The US is seeking a full UK ban on Huawei. Given that the UK has allowed Huawei to participate partially in 5G network construction, any sudden reversal of that position, for whatever reason, will be interpreted as a sign of diplomatic weakness.

Therefore, it is more likely that the new administration will maintain policy continuity on Huawei 5G. On the less optimistic side, it will be harder for the new administration to take a step forward on this and similar high-tech issues.

In other words, the Johnson administration will not fully open the 5G market to Huawei. It will allow Huawei to build base stations and provide non-sensitive equipment such as antennas, but the core network used to store data will still be off-limits to Huawei.

It remains to be seen how "principled" UK's pragmatism will be. The importance of this question lies in recognizing UK's bottom line when dealing with China. From the case of Huawei 5G to that of Hong Kong, the UK will of course carefully calibrate its policy and strategy so that they favor its national security and values. However, it is the very calibration that reminds us of the importance of "rules" in British minds. In the near future, as the UK leaves the EU and China further engages with Europe, what rules to play by and how China and the UK understand and approach the rules-based international system will be fundamental to bilateral ties.

Chen Xiao is a senior research fellow with Grandview Institution; Shen Bingjie is a research fellow with Grandview Institution.

The authors contributed this article to China Watch exclusively. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of China Watch.

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