By Doina Chiacu and Richard Cowan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -China’s restrictions on free speech and human rights are getting worse and its management of tech information poses a menace to the West, U.S. Home of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi stated on Thursday throughout a visit to Britain.

“China is tightening. It is getting worse and worse when it comes to democratic reform, freedom of speech or pluralism, or simply the flexibility of individuals to talk out,” Pelosi, lengthy a China critic, stated in a moderated dialogue on the Cambridge Union.

“They are not making an attempt to vary the federal government, they’re simply making an attempt to precise themselves, and that – it is a main drawback,” Pelosi stated of dissenting voices in China.

Pelosi praised a brand new Indo-Pacific safety alliance between the USA, Britain and Australia, a partnership China denounced on Thursday.

In Britain for a gathering of parliamentary leaders from the Group of Seven, Pelosi cited what she known as China’s army aggression within the South China Sea, its genocide of the Uighurs Muslim minority, restrictions in Tibet and the suppression of democracy in Hong Kong and different elements of China.

Pelosi, who’s third in succession for the U.S. presidency, additionally praised the UK for phasing out tools from Chinese language tech large Huawei from its 5G community.

“That could be a large menace,” Pelosi stated when requested about Huawei.

“We do should develop our personal 5G and be superior in a lot know-how in order that we’re not saying, ‘Effectively, they’re the most effective and the most affordable and so all of us should be enslaved by the Chinese language when it comes to their management of the info.'”

She additionally stated it was necessary for Beijing and Washington to work collectively in different areas, together with on local weather change, COVID-19 and preventing terrorism.