Yearender: Britain resets int'l strategy on complicated world stage in 2015

If 2015 was the year Britain's first state-sponsored astronaut was rocketed into space, it was also the year Prime Minister David Cameron lit the touch paper to launch Britain into its most important era for a generation, and reset Britain's international strategy on the increasingly complicated world stage.

It saw the creation of a closer relationship between Britain and China, spearheaded by October's state visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping.

It was no ordinary state visit, as Britain pulled out all the stops with the magic of regal pageantry running alongside political diplomacy and engagement.

Few seasoned observers of British detente can ever remember a state visit where the stakes were so high, hence the full involvement of Queen Elizabeth and the Royal family, along with Prime Minister Cameron, his Chancellor George Osborne and Britain's top team of politicians.

It seemed incredible that less than six months before President Xi's visit, Cameron was leading the Conservative Party into a general election with virtually every seasoned pundit predicting another five years of a hung parliament at Westminster.

What happened when the voting closed at 10 p.m. on May 7 - Election Day - will go down in history as the Miracle of Downing Street.

Cameron won an unexpected outright majority, bringing to an end five years of coalition government. The junior partners in that coalition, the Liberal Democrats, were defeated at the ballot box, prompting the resignation of leader Nick Clegg.

Ed Miliband, former leader of the main opposition Labour Party, also quit, as the party faced being wiped out in Scotland by the Scottish Nationalist Party, made worse by not making any impact in toe English regions.

At 10 and 11 Downing Street next door neighbors, Cameron and Osborne were setting out their stall for five years of a Conservative majority government, released from the shackles of a shared coalition.

And Whitehall officials were already frantically putting the finishing touches to one of the most important ever state visits, a red carpet visit by President Xi.

Arranging for President Xi to be accommodated at Buckingham Palace as guests of the Queen and Prince Philip, was a massive signal that Britain saw the importance of developing a closer relationship with China. The state visit was given saturation national television coverage unheard of, and as deals were announced and contracts signed, it was clear things could only get better.

As a curtain raiser to the state visit, Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne announced on March 12 that Britain would join the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). The Times of London reported that Britain's move was "in defiance of U.S. pressure".

Treasury officials in London had told their counterparts in Beijing of the intention to sign-up to the AIIB. But when word got out about Britain's intentions, London made its announcement earlier than planned, becoming the first major European country to announce its support for AIIB.

Joining AIIB was the last major decision by Cameron and Osborne in the closing weeks of the 2010-2015 Coalition government.

Academic and economist Dr. Wu Kegang describes 2015 as the momentous year ever in the relationship between Britain and China.

"Britain led western countries in supporting AIIB and by announcing the British government wants to be the 'best friend' of China in the west broke all the traditional diplomatic protocols," said Wu, who is the executive director of BCC Link to China.

"What the United Kingdom told the world, including the U.S., is that the economic partnership with China is essential in its global strategy and Britain will no longer allow this important relationship be constrained by the old geopolitical divides," said the expert.

"President Xi's visit has already broken a lot of ground in terms of the scale and the types of business deals worth more than 60 billion U.S. dollars signed during the visit," Wu noted.

"Some observers noted that out of China's many 'comprehensive strategic partnerships' with foreign countries, the partnership with the UK is the first and so far the only one with 'global' in its wording," Wu added.

"The leaders of both China and the UK want the partnership to work not only bilaterally, but for the world. It could become the most pivotal moment at the start of what is being called a 'Golden Era' for an UK-China partnership. It could be historical," Wu said.

"To take full advantage of this new political goodwill, we await eagerly in 2016 to see how this strategy translates into action plans for numerous bilateral and global issues and projects, not just in the much talked about financial sector but in the wide range of service industry sectors that China is opening up to work with the world --- health service, professional service, public procurement and outsourcing, social and elderly care, tourism, free trade zones, environmental services, cultural industries, overseas investment support," said Wu.

Meanwhile the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) is already making plans to ensure Britain builds on its new relationship with China.

"In January London will re-emphasis its full support for the AIIB when the new bank goes live. Britain was very pleased to have ratified its membership of the AIIB, and to have been the first major Western country to have joined," a FCO spokesman told Xinhua.

"We are also pleased that the close engagement of the UK, and other founder members, has led to the AIIB adopting governance and operating principles in line with international best practice. The AIIB presents an unrivalled opportunity for the UK and Asia to invest and grow together," said the spokesman.

"China is our sixth largest goods export market while the UK is the second largest European exporter to China. Our membership will continue Britain's leadership in building international links with Asia, just as we did when the UK become the first government outside of China to issue an RMB denominated bond," said the spokesman.

The FCO also looked to September 2016 when China hosts the G20, with Britain co-chairing groups on anti-corruption and antimicrobial resistance.

The FCO spokesman told Xinhua: "President Xi Jinping's state visit opened a new era in UK-China relations, establishing a global partnership for the 21st Century. It highlighted the strength of the relationship in our openness to business, our aim to make our economies fit for the future, and our joint response to important global issues."

"We have a relationship where we can discuss difficult issues - whether it is the future of the steel industry, cyber security or indeed human rights. We have a mature relationship with China and we have cemented that position of being China's best partner in the West precisely because of our open engagement, covering a whole range of issues," according to the spokesman.

Richard Caplan, Professor of International Relations in the Department of Politics and International Relations at Oxford, told Xinhua of the importance of Britain's new relationship.

"Britain is following the U.S. lead (belatedly) with its own 'pivot' to Asia. However, unlike the U.S., the UK has privileged commercial relations above a strategic re-balancing -- even at the risk of souring relations with Washington, which laments Britain's 'constant accommodation of China'."

And it is Britain's relationship, and perhaps its future with the European Union (EU) that will dominate domestic politics in 2016. Just as 2015 was the year Britain cemented its close ties with China, the next year will lay down the marker for the ongoing relationship between London and Brussels.

Cameron has already made it clear there will be an in-out referendum among more than 40 million British voters. It will be the first national referendum since 1975, when Britons voted to stick with its European neighbors.

Cameron wants Britain to remain, and the vote -- possibly taking place in 2016, but by 2017 at the latest -- will settle the EU question for generations, perhaps for ever.

Cameron has spent months busily criss-crossing Europe to seek support for changes in the membership conditions. He wants to sign up a deal that will enable him to tell Britons that the terms of membership mean voters should choose to stay in the EU.

What has changed since 1975 is the new landscape of the EU which has seen less developed, mainly Eastern European countries joining the EU, to the wave of people fleeing Africa and Middle East hot spots. Many have had new lives in Britain in their sights, a point emphasized by Britain's newest major political party UKIP. The United Kingdom Independence Party, which has enjoyed significant growth in its support, wants Britain to leave the EU and go it alone in the world.

A spokesperson from the Confederation of British Industry told Xinhua: "2015 was a year to remember for China and Britain, and we hope 2016 will build on that. China's choice of the City of London to lead the world in debt issuance in renminbi and the president's state visit were signs that our thriving trading partnership lies at the heart of the UK's economic future."

"The ever-deepening importance of the relationship between Britain and China will help further strengthen the trading bonds that link our two countries." Endit