Beijing Rules by Bethany Allen review – a new world order

It can be a little dizzying to survey the abrupt shifts in Britain's relationship with China. It is less than eight years since the then chancellor, George Osborne, touted a "golden era" of closer ties, becoming the first serving cabinet minister to visit Xinjiang. That region is now synonymous with the persecution of Uyghurs and other minorities, its vast network of camps a modern-day gulag archipelago. The widely documented atrocities meted out include torture and forced sterilisation. Last month parliament warned that Beijing poses not just a commercial challenge, but an "existential threat" to our democracy. The whiplash in Britain…