Tory leadership Race in UK: Rivals spar over tax, China in first TV debate

Britain's two prime ministerial contenders have clashed fiercely over tax, China and character in their first head-to-head televised debate, as Rishi Sunak seeks to peg back the frontrunner Liz Truss.

The primetime debate kicked off a crucial 12-day period featuring three such live TV duels and four husting events in front of Conservative party members who will decide the contest and begin receiving their postal votes next week.

The weeks-old Tory leadership contest to replace outgoing prime minister Boris Johnson has turned increasingly bitter, with both camps fiercely briefing against each other.

Monday's BBC debate showcased that acrimony, with former finance minister Sunak savaging Foreign Secretary Truss' plans to slash taxes immediately -- a key dividing line between the pair.

"I don't think that's right, I don't think it's responsible and it's certainly not Conservative," he interjected as she detailed her proposals.

"If we follow Rishi's plans, we are headed for a recession," Truss replied, accusing him of raising taxes "to the highest rate for 70 years".

A snap poll showed Conservative voters thought Truss edged Monday's debate, by 47 to 38 percent.

Opinion polls put Truss well ahead among the Tories' roughly 200,000 members, after she and Sunak emerged as the run-off candidates in a series of votes by Tory MPs.

The winner will be announced on September 5.

Over the weekend, Sunak announced plans to crack down on China's influence, calling it the "number-one threat" to domestic and global security. He vowed to "face down China" if elected, including by shuttering Beijing-funded Confucius Institutes in the UK.

That followed Truss accusing him of being soft on UK adversaries when he was finance minister.

"I'm delighted that you've come around to my way of thinking," she told Sunak as the issue featured at the debate.

Beijing took notice of the debate and yetsreday urged candidates vying to be Britain's next prime minister to refrain from "hyping up the so-called 'China threat.

"I want to make it clear to certain British politicians that making irresponsible remarks about China, including hyping up the so-called 'China threat,' cannot solve one's own problems," Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian said Monday, when asked in a regular news briefing about comments made by Sunak.