Autocrats, Kleptocrats and Populists

Lord Alton of Liverpool Excerpts

Thursday 3rd February 2022 Grand Committee

[Lord Alton of Liverpool (CB)]

My Lords, we are all indebted to the noble Lord, Lord Browne of Ladyton, for initiating this important debate. It is a reflection on our times that it has become commonplace to compare the current geopolitical situation to the 1930s—a decade when autocrats and populists manipulated public opinion, preying on insecurity rather than hope, and drew their personal power from the fears, cynicism and prejudices that divide people, rather than the qualities of compassion and generosity that can unite humanity. It is equally commonplace—we have rightly heard it during our debate today—to call for politicians to take a more co-ordinated response, especially when nations disregard international laws and conventions. Ministers regularly assure us that the Government consult our partners when international norms are violated yet, in practice, global Britain too often speaks alone.

By contrast, Beijing’s increasingly effective tactics are to single out and punish those nations which dare to contradict the Chinese Communist Party’s increasingly paranoid narrative—banning exports from Australia, incarcerating innocent Canadian citizens without due process, or intimidating Lithuania—without even talking about what has happened in Hong Kong, Xinjiang or Tibet, or its subversion of international institutions, from the United Nations Human Rights Council to the WHO.

So what might we do when institutions are subverted? By way of example, might the United Kingdom lead by suggesting to its partners that we join an informal and temporary coalition of countries to simultaneously recognise on the same day the sovereignty of Taiwan—a vibrant and brave democracy which has been referred to during this debate, where the rule of law is upheld and diversity and difference are respected? Does the Minister agree that there would be relative safety in numbers if 40 or 50 nations found the courage to make a joint announcement recognising the sovereignty of Taiwan, thereby with one diplomatic gesture turning the tables on the CCP’s bullying posturing, or does our fear of losing diplomatic face immobilise us in the face of tyranny? I hope the Minister will commit to exploring a much more robust approach with our partners.

As we have heard, this is beyond urgent. During exchanges in the House on Monday, I specifically asked the Minister about the co-ordinated action which is greatly needed to face off the Kremlin’s aggression and metamorphosis from managed democracy to outright dictatorship. If Russia does invade Ukraine, does the Minister agree with what the noble Lord, Lord Hannan, said earlier that it is not beyond the bounds of possibility that Beijing might seize the chance to take one or two of the small islands around Taiwan, or indeed Taiwan itself? There are memories here of the Sudetenland and Czechoslovakia and the enfeebled procrastination that emboldened the dictators of the day. Our piecemeal condemnation after the fact will have no more impact than the proverbial wailing and gnashing of teeth. The time for mass recognition of Taiwan’s sovereignty by the free nations of the world is now.

In this ugly and deliberately intimidatory environment, do we not have one particularly cost-effective weapon in our soft-power, smart-power armoury: the BBC World Service? It is among Britain’s greatest exports, but it is also the most cost-effective weapon in our soft-power armoury. Do memories of beleaguered peoples—from the French Resistance to the dissidents of the Soviet Union—not remind us of the huge importance of sustaining World Service broadcasts? After all, it was Mikhail Gorbachev who admitted that even he had listened to the World Service during the Cold War in order to learn the truth. In the Far East, especially in Hong Kong, where champions of democracy are incarcerated or forced into exile, and in Taiwan, mainland China and North Korea, the BBC remains a link with truth. I hope the Minister will agree that millions of people who are being bombarded by poisonous propaganda each day rely on the World Service to cut through the fog of misinformation and assure us that funding for the World Service will keep pace with inflation.

To end, it was Robert Kennedy who famously described how each tiny ripple of hope, when joined with others, could create a current which could sweep down even the mightiest walls of oppression. When faced with the spectre of totalitarianism, we must surely project the message of hope—the message we saw in 1989 when the walls came down in Berlin—to all those who suffer at the hands of dictators and despots and who yearn for the freedoms, privileges and liberties which we all enjoy.