Liz Truss has opened a new front in her battle with Rishi Sunak for the Tory leadership—in the fight for the UK premier’s job—as her supporters accused the former chancellor of being “soft” on Russia and China, The Telegraph reported.

The Foreign Secretary will portray herself as a “hawk” and Sunak as a “dove” as she seeks to broaden her appeal beyond her main policy promise of tax-cutting.
A briefing war between the two candidates has already begun, with supporters of Truss accusing Sunak of being overly cautious about sanctions with Russia and pushing for increased trade with China even in the face of growing human rights abuses.

Truss, who has built a commanding lead in polls of Conservative Party members—who will choose the next leader and prime minister—believes foreign policy and national security are “winners” for her, and is expected to use forthcoming hustings events to contrast her wide ministerial experience with Sunak’s single-department Cabinet career.

Supporters of Sunak point out that it was under his stewardship of the Treasury that Britain imposed tough sanctions on Russia following the invasion of Ukraine, and that he has insisted China’s human rights abuses cannot be ignored in UK-China economic relations. They say he will be talking “much more” about the issues in the coming week.