Labour MPs Urge Government To Harden Position On China
5 min read
Labour MPs have urged the government to harden its “naive” stance on China and prevent the Chinese Communist Party from acquiring critical infrastructure and silencing activist communities in the United Kingdom.
A new report – co-written by Labour Campaign for Human Rights (LCHR) and the Labour Foreign Policy Group (LFPG) – has put forward a series of recommendations to increase awareness of CCP activities in Britain and disentangle the private sector from finance backed by the Chinese state.
The recent threat to British Steel – owned by conglomerate Jingye Group – triggered alarm over how Chinese companies leverage control within UK infrastructure. If the steel furnace in Scunthorpe had stopped operating, Britain would have been the only country in the G7 without the power to produce virgin steel domestically.
Luke Akehurst, Labour MP for North Durham, told PoliticsHome economic objectivies today should not be pursued in ways which “lead to insecurity tomorrow”.
"The public are rightly cautious about UK engagement with China under the CCP regime and the government should be too," he said. "The upcoming ‘China audit’ is an opportunity for a new, clear-eyed approach to dealing with the CCP’s economic, political and geopolitical reach."
The Labour MP added: "From critical national infrastructure and political freedoms to R&D and intellectual property, we know that China is seeking to exert influence in the UK and we should be stepping up our efforts to counter it."
The new report claimed 92 per cent of larger Chinese companies and 73 per cent of all Chinese companies had CCP branches within them.
MPs are concerned that the Chinese government can wage influence in Britain by using private companies as a proxy to embed themselves in key national infrastructure such as energy.
Businesses by law must alert the government if a CCP-backed company or individual is expected to own 25 per cent through an investment. Both LCHR and LFPG are calling for this threshold to be significantly lowered to at least 10 to 15 per cent.
Graham Stringer, Labour MP for Blackley and Middleton South, said the government’s current position of engaging with China was “extremely naive” and called for thawing of relations with Xi Jinping.
“We should be withdrawing from China, recognising they are an enemy of this country in a very real sense. Our energy policy is vulnerable to them, and it is also supporting their economy."
He added: “Saying we should get closer to them is self-destructive as far as this country is concerned.”
Since Labour entered office in July, David Lammy has become only the second foreign secretary to visit China in six years, while Chancellor Rachel Reeves was hosted by Vice Premier He Lifeng in Beijing in January, where the pair agreed financial deals worth £600m to the British economy over the next five years.
The government says it must pursue a pragmatic relationship with China, with the country being the world's second-largest economy.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy attends a meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (Alamy)
Politico reported in February that Downing Street had begun to draw up plans for Keir Starmer to visit China — which would make him the first Prime Minister to visit the country in more than seven years.
The pair met on the sidelines of the November G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro.
But Labour MPs are concerned this could come at the expense of the UK's national security, as well as diaspora from Hong Kong and those supporting pro-democracy protests in the former British colony.
UK lawyers for Jimmy Lai, the pro-democracy activist who was jailed by the Chinese state, said they had been put under surveillance and were threatened with rape by the CCP and its supporters.
Connor Rand, Labour MP for Altrincham and Sale West, and member of the home affairs committee, told PoliticsHome: “As a nation, we need to be crystal clear about the threat posed by China. Many of the Hong Kong diaspora who now live in my constituency know this threat all too well.
“They live in fear of the long arm of the Chinese state, which continues to harass and intimidate them. We need more action to tackle transnational repression, and I hope this is reflected in the government’s upcoming audit of UK-China relations.”
Alex Sobel, Labour MP for Leeds Central and Headingley, added: “This report echoes what we have been hearing in our inquiry on Transnational Repression that China is targeting democracy activists in the UK, but the report goes much further, showing how China is trying to fundamentally undermine our democracy."
Other notable recommendations from the report include ensuring the government has a focal point for responding to and developing policy around transnational repression, which can coordinate officials across Whitehall.
It is calls for China to be added to the enhanced tier of Foreign Influence Registration Scheme. This step would force companies, lobbying firms and individuals to declare working for the CCP.
A government spokesperson told PoliticsHome: “We are carrying out a full and comprehensive audit on the breadth of the UK’s relationship with China which will bring a consistent, long-term, and strategic approach to managing the UK’s relations with China, rooted in UK and global interests, so we can challenge China where we need to.
“The audit process is ongoing, and work being done by the audit team is already proving valuable in developing policies and planning engagement.”
