Minister: UK must balance national security concerns over China with trade aims
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Britain has to balance “very clear” national security concerns, including over China, with being an “outwardly facing” trading nation in light of its “fragile” economy, according to a Foreign Office minister. Catherine West said the country must “sometimes be involved” with nations whose values “may not completely align with ours”, and that British businesses in Hong Kong say it is “so lovely” when they are visited by MPs.
She added Britain’s “rather exposed position” after Brexit means it has to be “outwardly looking in our economy if we want our residents and our constituents to get away from food banks”. Her remarks came as she defended Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ visit to China in the wake of arrest warrants being issued for pro-democracy activists living in the UK.
Conservative former leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith – who is among a number of MPs sanctioned by China – said the arrest warrants are “the last act of a Chinese Communist Party who don’t care what countries like the UK say” as he pressed for sanctions to be imposed.
Several other MPs voiced concerns over the safety of Hongkongers living in the UK. Chancellor Ms Reeves is due to visit China this week for talks with vice premier He Lifeng, following a meeting between Sir Keir Starmer and Chinese leader Xi Jinping in November.
