LONDON, July 25, 2022 (BSS/AFP) - Rishi Sunak on Sunday promised to get tough on China if he becomes Britain's next prime minister, calling the Asian superpower the "number one threat" to domestic and global security.

The former finance minister's pledge comes after his rival in the final two of the race to lead the ruling Conservative party, Liz Truss, accused him of being weak on China and Russia.

China's state-run Global Times has previously said Sunak was the only candidate in the contest with "a clear and pragmatic view on developing UK-China ties".

The Daily Mail, which has come out for Foreign Secretary Truss in the race to succeed Boris Johnson, called that "the endorsement that nobody wanted".

Sunak's proposals include the closure of all 30 Confucius Institutes in Britain, preventing the soft-power spread of Chinese influence through culture and language programmes.

He also promised to "kick the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) out of our universities" by forcing higher education establishments to disclose foreign funding of more than o50,000 ($60,000) and reviewing research partnerships.