British Prime Minister Tras has been very busy recently. As soon as he came on stage, he welcomed the death of the Queen of England. After his funeral, he had to fly to New York to attend the UN General Assembly. This is Tras's diplomatic debut since he became Prime Minister. Attending the United Nations Conference is a trivial matter. It is important to meet the US President Biden and reiterate the "special relationship" between Britain and the United States. However, the result of the first meeting between Trass and Biden seems to have played the opposite role, which makes people ask, how far can the United Kingdom and the United States go?
After the meeting with Biden was completed, Tras couldn't wait to tweet and show off: we are firm ally . However, the statement from the White House and the British Prime Minister's Office seemed to expose the temperature difference between the two sides.
What is particularly noteworthy is that the White House press release did not mention the statement of on Northern Ireland issue , but Downing Street specifically emphasized that on the issue of the "Northern Ireland Protocol", both sides agreed that the most urgent task is to maintain local peace and stability in Northern Ireland .
The British are most anxious to talk to the United States now: The UK-US Free Trade Agreement and the Northern Ireland issue. The Biden administration has actually integrated the two issues. The day after Tras took office, the White House threatened that any attempt to undermine the Northern Ireland Protocol would not create a favorable environment for trade negotiations between the United States and the United Kingdom. In other words, if Tras cannot handle the Northern Ireland issue well, there is no need to discuss the UK-US free trade agreement. It is really hard to see where the relationship "special" is like .
What is Natras' attitude towards the Northern Ireland issue? In fact, this matter may not be counted if Tras said it. It concerns the core interests of the UK. If you dare to make concessions, you are just kidding about your own political life.
Brexit After the UK has a series of Brexit , the Northern Ireland Agreement , according to the agreement, Northern Ireland will continue to stay in the customs union and change the customs between the UK and EU to British Isle and Northern Ireland. The agreement is equivalent to establishing a customs office in the UK.
was signed so at that time because for historical reasons, there was no customs between Northern Ireland and Ireland , and both Northern Ireland and Ireland were very resistant to the establishment of customs. Therefore, the UK and the EU finally reached this compromise of the Northern Ireland Protocol. However, in May this year, the Northern Ireland local elections advocated separation from the United Kingdom, and the referendum on the merger of Ireland in the south seized control of the local council. Almost at the same time as Sinn Fein won the election, the Johnson administration proposed to tear up the Northern Ireland Protocol.
The logic behind this is very clear. Once the Northern Ireland Parliament is controlled by the forces that advocate "de-Britishness", the Northern Ireland Protocol is equivalent to assisting, and a customs office separates the Northern Ireland from the British island. Physical isolation will further aggravate the psychological barriers. If this continues, it will only be a matter of time before Britain loses Northern Ireland. Scottish "Take the British" has long been a hot topic. At this time, any compromise by the British government may lead to a disaster of national division. The sudden death of Queen of England exacerbated the plight of Britain.
It is precisely because of this that no matter who takes over Johnson to the stage, it is impossible to make concessions on the Northern Ireland issue. Biden is so concerned about the Northern Ireland issue. , on the one hand, is because Irish people have a huge influence in the American political arena, and the two-party establishment in the United States has always supported Northern Ireland, and Biden himself is one of them. and even the United States have special fundraising institutions to support the independence movement in Northern Ireland. Even newspapers with huge voices like " New York Times " have also published political advertisements supporting the independence of Northern Ireland. Such a special method of "special relationship" between Britain and the United States is simply outrageous.
In addition to considering political stance, on the other hand, the Northern Ireland issue is also a way for Biden to grasp the UK in the negotiations on the UK-US Free Trade Agreement. There was no inevitable connection between the UK-US free trade agreement, but the United States forced the two to be linked together. To put it bluntly, it was to force the UK to accept some conditions in the free trade negotiations. For example, in agriculture, the barriers are relaxed to allow American agricultural products to flow into the British market; for example, in the field of financial services, London is allowed to accept the financial regulatory rules of Wall Street ; for example, in the field of national medical services (NHS), market access is relaxed to allow American companies to enter the British pharmaceutical market, etc. Almost every one is a decision to kill Britain. The United States' asking price is too high. Since the Trump period, neither side has reached an agreement.
Of course, American politicians are very clear that in free trade negotiations, it is difficult for the UK to accept the conditions offered by the US in a short period of time. But they are not in a hurry. Britain and the United States have different positions in their respective trading systems. After the UK "Brexit", the United States has become the UK's largest trading partner, and the United Kingdom cannot even rank in the top three among the US trading partners. The one who is really anxious about in this negotiation is the UK. Biden instead sat firmly in the White House and threatened the UK with the Northern Ireland issue every few days.
75 years ago, former British Prime Minister Churchill first proposed the so-called "special relationship" between Britain and the United States, and was repeatedly confirmed by successive leaders of the two countries. After in World War II, Britain, as the most loyal younger brother of the United States, actually shared some of the hegemony dividends with "this special relationship".
Someone once described this relationship between the two countries very vividly: a "special relationship" that was iron-clad, a flowing prime minister. It means that no matter who ascends to the position of British Prime Minister, he has to find ways to maintain the "special relationship" between Britain and the United States. But now, with the decline of hegemony, the United States is too busy to take care of itself, so how could it recognize the "special" of Britain?
Although Tras is still unilaterally advocating that the two countries are firm allies, on Biden's side, the "special relationship" is no longer special, and Britain has become the same existence as other allies of the United States.
On the issue of Northern Ireland, Biden obviously considers that the EU is more than the UK, but in the final analysis, all this is for the interests of the United States. After all, under the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the EU's value is higher than that of the UK. Of course, in the conversation with Tras, Biden did not forget to let this "special ally" pay more to support Ukrainian .
The "special relationship" of Britain and the United States has actually deteriorated, and Britain and the United States have tacitly agreed in the past. However, when the prime ministers changed and the queen passed away, British people suddenly discovered that the broken ship " British Empire " was really not far from the shipwreck, and when they wanted to look back at the United States on the other end of the "special relationship", they realized that the world had changed a long time ago.
