Britain’s relationship with China is under the spotlight as Beijing squelches anti-government Covid lockdown protests, with some British lawmakers calling for the expulsion of Chinese diplomats from London. Some of the mounting dissatisfaction with Beijing is also being directed at the new British prime minister, Rishi Sunak, whose stance against Communist China has been seen as less than robust by a growing number of influential lawmakers in his own governing Conservative party. 

On Sunday Mr. Sunak said that he wanted to “evolve” the United Kingdom’s positions on China, but also said that “we cannot simply ignore China’s significance in world affairs — to global economic stability or issues like climate change.” That same day, Chinese authorities assaulted and briefly detained a BBC journalist, Ed Lawrence, who had been covering anti-government protests at Shanghai. On Tuesday Britain summoned the Chinese ambassador over the incident, but for some Tories such responses have become pro forma and are seen as not going far enough. 

During a debate in the House of Commons prior to the summoning of Beijing’s envoy to Westminster, one of the most prominent Tory backbenchers, Jacob Rees-Mogg, said, “I wonder what effect calling the ambassador in has, and whether more doesn’t need to be done urgently that actually has an effect on the Chinese operation in the U.K.” 

Mr. Rees-Mogg’s propositions then took a toothier turn: “Should we not be looking to expel diplomats, to take tougher action in international forums where Chinese interests are at stake, to do things that the Chinese would not want us to do, like improving our relationship with Taiwan, or inviting the Dalai Lama on a formal visit by the British government so that we show that we are not a pushover, we are not going to support the communist running dogs?”

Mr. Rees-Mogg is by no means alone in his impatience with the tiptoeing around the CCP. Another Tory MP, Tim Loughton, asked, “We have had an awful lot of calling in the Chinese ambassador. If robust pragmatism is to mean anything, should there not be clear consequences?” He added: “When are we going to get serious about China?” Mr. Loughton also called for the expulsion of the Chinese consul general at Manchester. Last month, a senior Chinese diplomat was accused of taking part in a violent assault against anti-government protesters outside the Chinese consulate there. 

A former Tory leader, Sir Iain Duncan Smith, criticized Mr. Sunak’s suggestion that Britain take a more “robustly pragmatic” approach to China. “How is it … the prime ,inister, who previously said that China posed a ‘systemic threat,’ has now moved to a ‘systemic challenge’ … could he please explain to me how ‘robustly pragmatic’ will worry the Chinese any one bit?”

Mr. Sunak was scheduled to meet with the Chinese leader, Xi Jinping, at the G20 summit in Indonesia earlier this month but it was canceled after an errant missile strike in Poland. In the meantime, China’s harsh crackdown on the spreading anti-lockdown protests is likely to ensure that the debate about how Britain ought to handle Beijing will not go away, and in fact may intensify in the weeks to come. 

There are some signs of British frustration with China on the grassroots as well as the diplomatic level. Mr. Sunak has reportedly stripped China’s state-owned nuclear energy company of a 20 percent stake in the new Sizewell C nuclear power plant. Also, he has said that he will move to disband the Confucius Institutes that are currently operating in the U.K.; ostensibly cultural foundations, the so-called institutes actually are accused of serving as propaganda vessels for the Chinese Communist Party. 

In addition, the Global De-twin with China group has recently stepped up its campaign for cutting ties between Chinese cities and other cities worldwide by organizing petitions in Britain as well as in America, Canada, and other countries. Some 40 cities in the United Kingdom are now twinned with Chinese cities, but one, Newcastle, will soon end its arrangement with the Chinese city of Taiyuan on the basis of Chinese abuse of Uyghur Muslims. The Telegraph reported that de-twinning activists want the city of Nottingham to cut its ties with the Chinese city of Ningbo, south of Shanghai.

Also this week, in an unrelated move sure to rankle the authorities at Beijing, members of the British parliament’s foreign affairs committee will be visiting Free China for meetings with senior Taiwanese politicians there.