Abstract
The ‘Brexit’ campaign in the UK was conducted in an insular and inward-looking manner, with little thought given to the real consequences for relations with the wider world. For North East Asia, these are primarily trade and foreign direct investment. The debate focused on the first, but for the countries of the region, the latter is of greater importance, specifically continued access to the EU Single Market for their companies which have invested in the UK. But it is far from certain that the UK government will be able to deliver this. Outside the EU, the UK may also struggle to live up to East Asian expectations on geopolitical issues, leading to a further loss of influence.
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Notes
- 1.
Much of this background comes from my time as a UK civil servant, including as the desk officer responsible for G7 Summit policy from 1984 to 1986 and a dinner conversation with Baroness Thatcher in Seoul in September 1992. For Thatcher’s views on her own philosophy and on Europe, see Speech to the College of Europe, Bruges, 20 September 1988, http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/107332, retrieved 8 November 2016, and Speech in Korea (The Principles of Thatcherism), 3 September 1992, http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/108302, retrieved 12 November 2016. Probably the most famous example of tabloid abuse of Delors was The Sun newspaper’s headline of 1 November 1990, Up Yours Delors.
- 2.
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- 3.
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- 4.
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- 5.
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- 7.
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- 9.
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- 10.
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- 12.
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- 13.
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- 14.
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- 15.
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- 16.
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- 17.
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- 18.
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- 20.
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- 22.
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- 23.
The Impact of Brexit on foreign direct investment into the UK, op.cit.
- 24.
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- 25.
The Five Power Defence Arrangements were established in 1971 between Malaysia, Singapore, the UK, Australia and New Zealand. They are not a formal defence treaty or commitment but the powers undertake to consult among themselves should Malaysia or Singapore come under attack.
- 26.
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- 27.
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- 28.
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- 29.
There have been 11 such summit meetings since the first in Bangkok in 1996. The UK Prime Minister has attended six at most, and some of those for only part of the time.
- 30.
Financial Times, 7 October 2016, in a round-up of reactions to speeches at the Conservative Party Conference.
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Reilly, M. (2018). The Burial of Thatcherism? The Impact of Brexit on the UK’s Relations with North East Asia. In: Huang, D., Reilly, M. (eds) The Implications of Brexit for East Asia. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-0185-8_3
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