China’s threat to Britain

The understandable focus of the recent Nato summit in Vilnius was the threat posed by Vladimir Putin’s Russia. Yet away from the media lens, considerable concern was also directed towards an increasingly assertive China.

A new report from Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee has amply illustrated why – labelling the communist country as the “greatest risk” faced by Britain. Beijing’s wealth and ambition have allowed it to “successfully penetrate every sector of the UK’s economy”, and to sway academia towards promoting its narratives.

As the last year has made abundantly clear, cheap goods from autocratic regimes come with a considerable hidden price tag. Russia provided the European continent with cheap gas until it was sufficiently hooked, then turned the screws as it invaded Ukraine. China could well be engaged in a similar game of encouraging dependence as it eyes a potential invasion of Taiwan. Politicians have been slow to wake to this danger, allowing Chinese firms to embed themselves in critical supply chains.

Domestically, Beijing’s state intelligence agencies have targeted the UK and its interests “prolifically and aggressively” and allegations have been made by the British government of “unacceptable intimidation” of Chinese communities in this country; Hong Kong activist Finn Lau’s experiences, described in these pages, are merely one account.

Rishi Sunak’s first foreign policy speech as Prime Minister contained the statement that the “golden era” of Anglo-Chinese relations was “over”. It was later followed by a statement at the G7 labelling China as “the biggest challenge of our age to global security and prosperity”. It is surely time that this rhetoric were matched with action.