Alex Younger: ‘The Russians did not create the things that divide us — we did that’

If the threat from Russia should be kept in perspective, the rising ideological challenge from China will occupy intelligence agencies for many years to come. Younger says, with some regret, that the notion, widely held in the west in the past two decades, that economic progress would bring democratisation to China was a misunderstanding of the Communist party. “The idea that as they matured and became richer they were going to become more like us is for the birds,” he says. “I think you’re seeing a steady but definite ideological divergence taking place; there will be at least two dominant value systems on one planet into the medium term and that’s just a fact and it’s where we’re going.”

How does a medium-sized power such as Britain position itself in this steady, and unsettling decoupling? The golden era in Sino-British relations promoted by ex-chancellor George Osborne is long gone, but it’s far from clear the current Johnson government has a coherent strategy in place. Younger insists that government policy is clear, and on the right track. Britain, he says, must call out the Chinese over malicious cyber attacks and ensure that critical infrastructure is not overly dependent on Beijing, but it has to coexist with China. Eschewing the cold war framing of the western rivalry with China, he says Britain can both “stick up for what we believe in” and ensure a balanced relationship through engagement and dialogue. “I am not a Manichean, I don’t think it’s black or white, and that’s why I reject this cold war idea.”