China is considering lifting the sanctions it imposed on UK parliamentarians in 2021, in the latest sign of warming relations between London and Beijing. The Chinese government is reviewing the sanctions, which it introduced four years ago in response to what it called “lies and disinformation” about human rights abuses in Xinjiang, according to two UK government sources familiar with the conversations. Asked to comment, a spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in London said: “China has always attached importance to developing relations with the UK. Currently, UK-China relations are showing…
Tag: Foreign policy
Delegation of Labour MPs arrives in Taiwan in first visit since UK election
A group of five Labour MPs is travelling to Taiwan for meetings with government officials for the first time since Labour came to power. The Labour Friends of Taiwan delegation is due to land in Taipei on Sunday morning and is expected to meet senior government officials, parliamentarians, unions, businesses and civil society groups. It includes Navendu Mishra, the Labour MP for Stockport, Paula Barker of Liverpool Wavertree, Connor Naismith of Crewe and Nantwich, Gill Furniss of Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough, and Tahir Ali of Birmingham Hall Green. The visit…
China issues warning to UK over terms of US trade deal
China has warned the UK over its new trade deal with the US, accusing Britain of aligning with the US in a move that could compel British companies to exclude Chinese products from their supply chains. The UK-US trade deal, signed last week, offers Britain limited relief from US tariffs on car and steel exports, but only if it complies with strict American security requirements. These conditions include scrutinising supply chains and ownership structures – a move widely interpreted as targeting Chinese involvement. Beijing argues the agreement violates the principle…
Potential role for Chinese firm in key UK windfarm attracts government scrutiny
Ministers are weighing up proposals for a Chinese company to supply wind turbines for a major offshore windfarm in the North Sea. The government is in discussions with Green Volt North Sea over whether Mingyang, China’s biggest offshore wind company, should supply the wind turbines. Mingyang has emerged as the preferred manufacturer, but the company has sought advice from ministers on whether to proceed. Green Volt, which is jointly owned by Flotation Energy, a Scottish company and Vårgrønn, a Norwegian one, is constructing the first commercial-scale floating offshore windfarm in…
Starmer and Reeves try to ride three horses with US, EU and China trade ties
Riding two horses is hard enough, but diplomats are joking in private that Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves are trying to ride three. At the International Monetary Fund summit in Washington this week, Reeves sought to position the UK as a beacon of free trade that is open to business with the EU, US and China. Riding those three horses is central to the government’s strategy for boosting growth and navigating the international stage at a time when old alliances are being upended and the post-cold war order redrawn. What…
UK overtures to China worry Hongkongers | Letter
As a Hongkonger with a British national (overseas) – BNO – passport who is now living in Britain, I read your editorial about the UK’s evolving position on China with both personal and political weight (The Guardian view on UK-China relations: a dilemma made sharper by Brexit, 16 April). For many of us who left Hong Kong following the imposition of the national security law, the threat from the ruling regime was not abstract – it was immediate, personal and existential. Our migration was not simply a search for better…
Cutting business ties with China would be ‘foolish’, Reeves says amid reports of US pressure
Rachel Reeves has dismissed the idea of economically disengaging from China, amid concerns the US may put pressure on the UK to limit its deals with Beijing. The chancellor, who will discuss a trade deal with the US on a trip to Washington next week, said it would be “very foolish” for Britain to have less involvement with Xi Jinping’s administration. The Wall Street Journal reported this week that US officials would attempt to use trade deals and tariff discussions to economically isolate China. Keir Starmer spoke to Donald Trump…
UK firms may be barred from funding emerging tech in hostile countries
Ministers are considering blocking British investors from funding emerging technologies in hostile countries if they believe the technology could pose a threat to UK security, the deputy prime minister has said. Oliver Dowden said on Thursday the government would consult on curbing British investment abroad, after becoming concerned that money from the UK could be used to finance projects that could undermine national security. His comments come eight months after the Biden administration gave regulators the power to stop US investment in Chinese institutions in three sectors: semiconductors, quantum computing…
Ditching European trade for China and India was ever a poor bet. Now it’s a farce | Will Hutton
The world has changed since, post-Brexit, “Global Britain” set itself to “pivot” from sclerotic Europe towards booming Asia. Always a fanciful idea that disregarded Asian realities, it has now become farcical. Neither China nor India are proving the easy pickings on which “buccaneering” Britain could ride to economic success, denied through being tied to the “corpse” of an EU economy allegedly shackled by regulation and tax. Brexiter ambitions are turning to ashes. Instead, there is China, run by an ever more openly dictatorial and militarily ambitious communist government. Its economy is…
Western governments struggle to coordinate response to Chinese hacking
With the announcement that the UK government would be imposing sanctions on two individuals and one entity accused of targeting – without success – UK parliamentarians in cyber-attacks in 2021, the phrase “tip of the iceberg” comes to mind. But that would underestimate the iceberg. James Cleverly, the home secretary, said the sanctions were a sign that “targeting our elected representatives and electoral processes will never go unchallenged”. But some experts saw it as a sign that the UK had been pushed into a corner by a decision in Washington…