MIMICKING US cold war hostility to China will mean “Britain’s foreign policy may as well be written in Washington,” an analyst warned today after Tory MPs called on the government to adopt a more aggressive stance towards Beijing.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called for “robust pragmatism” in relations with China at his Mansion House speech last night, while declaring the “golden era” of ties with China to be over.

His predecessor Liz Truss had been due to declare China a “threat” to Britain and hawkish Tory Iain Duncan Smith was quick to accuse the PM of “appeasement” for apparently softening this approach.

Friends of Socialist China co-editor Carlos Martinez told the Morning Star that Mr Sunak was torn between Britain’s economic need for trade and the anti-China hysteria of “the dominant section of the Tory Party.

“Britain needs investment, and China can provide investment. Britain needs to upgrade its transport infrastructure, its energy systems, its telecoms systems; China offers a tremendous amount of expertise in those fields,” he said.

“Meanwhile China has a middle-income population of some half a billion people — a huge potential market for British exports.

“Meanwhile the Biden administration is intent on pursuing its Project for a New American Century, doing everything within its power to prevent China’s further rise. So keeping the US happy means sabotaging Britain’s relations with China and committing economic harakiri.

“Duncan Smith’s accusations of ‘appeasement’ resonate — but Sunak is appeasing the US, not China. By calling China a ‘systemic challenge’ but stepping back from the serious diplomatic escalation of labelling it a ‘threat,’ Sunak is trying to have his cake and eat it.”