Summary
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak acknowledges the challenges in dealing with Beijing, as UK-China relations sour. Concerns raised about Chinese hacking and investment in UK energy infrastructure, prompting national security scrutiny.
Well that is the official statement however, behind the scenes the government is working on new trade deals in return for more cordial trading arrangements.
Another thorn in the PM’s side is Tory MP questions PM on Chinese involvement in UK energy projects, citing security risks. Sunak defends government’s actions to protect against Chinese influence, highlighting National Security and Investment Act.
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Responding to the MP, the Prime Minister insisted the government was “alive to the challenges” of dealing with Beijing.
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Relations between the UK and China have soured in recent years.
Earlier this week it emerged that just about nearly every member of Britain’s armed forces had been exposed to Chinese hackers.
Data at risk includes names and bank details for full-time military personnel, part-time reservists, and veterans who left after January 2018.
The Electoral Commission and Parliamentarians critical of Beijing – including Mr McDonald – have also recently been targeted by Chinese actors.
Last month, the Scottish Offshore Wind Energy Council (SOWEC) – a partnership between the Scottish public sector and the offshore wind industry – backed proposals by Chinese firm Mingyang for a turbine manufacturing facility.
It was one of seven new projects announced as part of the second stage Strategic Investment Model (SIM) process which attempts to link up different projects working on Scotland’s offshore wind pipeline with suppliers.
If the Mingyang project proceeds, it will be the first turbine manufacturer facility built in the UK.
Shortly after the firm’s involvement was announced, Mr McDonald asked the UK Government if the facility had been subject to national security checks.
Ministers said they were unable to comment on individual investment cases, “but investment into the energy sector is subject to the highest levels of national security scrutiny.”
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Mr McDonald raised the issue again during Wednesday’s Prime Minister’s Questions.
He told MPs: “China has now hacked the data of Defense personnel, the Electoral Commission, various other public institutions and it’s targeted many members of this house and yet plans by China’s largest wind turbine manufacturer Mingyang Smart Energy to build its largest European facility right here in the UK advance at pace with the facility set to be built in Scotland.
“Given widely shared concerns about the involvement of hostile states such as China in the UK’s critical national energy infrastructure, does he not agree that now’s the time for this project to paused, to be reviewed by the government on national security grounds? And if not, what message does he think that sends?”
Mr Sunak said that China is a “country with different values to ours and is acting in a way that is increasingly authoritarian at home and assertive abroad.”
He added: “It is right that we take further steps to protect ourselves against that, particularly in the area of economic security, which is why this government passed the National Security and Investment Act precisely so that we can screen transactions – without commenting on individual ones, of course – to protect this country.
“And we have used those powers, not least to block chinese investment in a sensitive semiconductor company, but also to ensure that the Chinese state nuclear company had no part in the future of our nuclear power.
“So he can rest assured that we’re alive to the challenges and have passed laws that give US the power to protect against them.”
Mr McDonald said he would follow up the exchange with a letter to the Prime Minister.
Mingyang and SOWEC have been approached for comment.