China

"This is a state that imprisons, tortures and kills its political opponents. It is a state that pollutes public discourse with untruths, and that not only seeks to suppress truths, but that seeks to suppress the free exchange of thought between its citizens. It is a state that gives succour to the genocidal regime in Sudan, and has backed itself into the position of casting Buddhist monks as dangerous terrorists.

And it is a state that has so much in the way of natural resources, and manpower, and economic muscle, that it is all but immune to direct political pressure. We need them more than they need us."

Read the rest of Sam Leith's opinion piece in The Telegraph.