Sunak ruse aims to outmanoeuvre Truss over China

Analysis: claims by ex-chancellor about Foreign Office weakness towards Beijing look like an attempt to head off a similar attack on him

Rishi Sunak's pre-emptive strike attacking Liz Truss over alleged Foreign Office pusillanimity towards China looks to have been a daring attempt to fend off an imminent assault from his Tory leadership rival.

But it locks the contestants into a potentially uncontrollable dogfight as they seek to prove their credentials as the truer enemy of authoritarianism.