例如，根据下议院的研究，英澳自贸协定每年只会提高GDP的0.08%，同时还被广泛批评破坏英国农业。这说明了英国政府用认同搞贸易政策与经济现实之间的不协调。中国与英国的双边贸易每年达1000亿英镑，而中国被忽视了。
更进一步说，脱欧后的英国正在包庇一项纯粹基于民族主义情绪和帝国怀旧感的外交政策，因此对国家的战略现实或国家利益没有连贯的把握，最终导致自我毁灭的决策。正如一句古语所说，疯子管着疯人院。
尽管英中关系有着深厚的相互依存和共同利益，但没有什么能比英国穿上其旧帝国的外套来施压中国更能激怒中国人了。中国的政治意志是历史不会重演。中国是世界第二大经济体，GDP估计超过17万亿美元，而英国停滞不前，其未来的繁荣将取决于进入中国市场的机会。
如果英国要像其政府宣传的那样真正走向"全球"，那么明智的选择是退一步，从美国手中夺回对英国外交政策控制权，在务实、现实和独立的条件下与中国对话。不然，狂热的冷战沙文主义将造成几十年的倒退。
（本文系作者赐稿。）
Britain's Pursuit of Cold War is Dangerous
Last week British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss pursued a highly provocative speech at a London event where she took aim at both Russia and China. The speech was typical of Liz, in that it sought to frame global politics as a zero-sum ideological struggle between democracy and authoritarianism, of which she likes to describe as a "network of liberty". Yet, it went further than previous addresses that it was intentionally more aggressive and sought to demand that China "play by the rules" stating that its rise was "not inevitable", with Truss also vowing to involve the UK and NATO in the Taiwan region. Arguably, it is the most single aggressive address ever given by a British foreign secretary concerning Beijing.
British Foreign Policy since Brexit has been premised on an effective delusion, that is the nostalgia of a long-gone era whereby "Britannia ruled the waves" and wielded the power of a global empire of which allowed it to impose its will on others. China of course is no stranger to that legacy. With the opium wars, Britain opened what Chinese people understand as the "century of humiliation" when European powers learnt they could use their growing military might to force political and economic concessions on a declining Qing Dynasty. Liz Truss clearly believes that London is capable of doing the same thing to China again, and is hungry for confrontation with Beijing.
But none of this fiery rhetoric has any basis in reality. The world has changed, and circumstances are no longer favourable for the UK. Britain's withdrawal from the European Union was a self-inflicted wound which has had a huge detrimental impact on the economy across the board. It has created supply shortages, labour shortages, added to burgeoning in inflation and severely hurt services too. This has coupled with surging energy prices and shrinking standards of living. The truth is that in lieu of Brexit, Britain's economic relationship with China is of critical importance and Boris Johnson had long understood this and made it clear. The United Kingdom cannot afford to distance itself from the largest consumer market and trading nation on Earth.
