China’s warning to the UK that the future of bilateral ties stand at a “crucial historical juncture” over the deferral of an £18bn nuclear project cannot be dismissed as mere rhetoric. Beijing has a record of rounding on countries that displease it. It downgraded its ties with Norway after the Oslo-based Nobel committee awarded a prize to the Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo in 2010. Similarly, a meeting two years later between the Dalai Lama, Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader, and former UK premier, David Cameron, temporarily plunged London’s relationship with Beijing into the deep freeze.
中國告誡英國，由於一項投資額180億英鎊的核能項目遭推遲，當前中英關係正處在一個「重要歷史時刻」。不能把這番警告當作耳旁風。以前就有先例，惹惱中國的國家，北京方面會給它們好看。2010年設在奧斯陸的挪威諾貝兒委員會頒獎給中國異見人士劉曉波後，中國就降級了其與挪威的關係。同樣，兩年後西藏流亡精神領袖達賴喇嘛與時任英國首相的大衛•卡麥隆(David Cameron)會晤，導致英中關係在一段時間裏降至冰點。