Trade, new approach to tackle overseas and domestic security threats, Shein listing, Chinese EV action
A Beijing to Britain briefing
Hello,
In the spirit of British politics, it’s time for Beijing to Britain to claim credit for influencing a decision, provide no substantial proof that we were the deciding factor, and notch it up as a victorious campaign.
You may recall that a couple of weeks ago, I shared an analysis breaking down the countries Foreign Secretary David Cameron had visited over his first 100 days or so. Missing, I argued, were any trips to the Indo-Pacific, despite it being a key strategic and economic region for the UK’s long-term interests. Showing face and facilitating conversations with Indo-Pacific leaders matters: the UK cannot be seen to simply only turn up when it needs something from one of these countries, and then be MIA the rest of the time.
Well, The Guardian reported on Monday that the Foreign Secretary will be going to the region in the next couple of months, although India and China don’t seem to be on his list currently. Regardless, it will be his first major official trip into the region since his time as Prime Minister.
I would argue it's a very good thing for senior politicians to be out and about in the world, particularly at this present moment, for the UK’s image and also for their domestic election campaigns. Although it’s not a popular view yet, I believe foreign and defence policy will feature in this election in a way not seen in years. That means political parties should be evidencing to voters how they are thinking and acting about these two issues. In the words of former Defence Secretary Ben Wallace this week, “I fear that both parties will do the usual thing and say “we don’t want defence to become an election issue”. Well it must and it should be.”
In the spirit of asking for things that may happen and then claiming credit for when they do: I think Foreign Secretary David Cameron, or his successor, should commit to a ‘Year of Democracy’ tour, visiting nations that have voted this year to pass on the UK’s congratulations, cement ties, and show that we are as invested in their functioning democracies as they are. India, Tuvalu, South Korea, Mongolia - the list goes on and on. And if you’re looking for someone to come and sit with you on the plane, I’m sure I could eke out some time. Fingers crossed!
- Sam Hogg, Editor
In this week’s briefing, we examine:
George Galloway returns to Parliament
Senior Government lines on UK trade, and reform of MoD
Shein’s potential listing on the LSE
Newport Wafer Fab finally done
Diplomacy Tracker
🇭🇰 Foreign Secretary David Cameron released a long statement on Hong Kong Article 23 national security proposals🇵🇭 HMS Spey visited the region🇰🇷 HMS Spey docked in Busan 🇵🇭 The 1st Philippines-United Kingdom Joint Committee Meeting (JCM) on Science and Technology was held🇮🇩 UK Minister for the Indo-Pacific Anne-Marie Trevelyan visited the Bali Regional Maritime Security Symposium, a week-long event (26 Feb-1 March 2024) delivered and funded by the UK government. 🇹🇱 UK Minister for the Indo-Pacific Anne-Marie Trevelyan announced the UK’s intention to re-open a permanent diplomatic mission in Dili, the Timorese capital.🇰🇭 UK Minister for the Indo-Pacific Anne-Marie Trevelyan visited Cambodia, meeting industry and political groups.Politics
A by-election in Rochdale saw George Galloway return to Parliament, as an MP for the Workers Party of Britain. Galloway has a long list of controversies, critics and admirers. On the China front, Beijing to Britain reported back in 2021 that Galloway had set up ‘China House | 中国之家’, which was dedicated to "resetting relations between the West and China." One of its earliest tweets read “Anti-China propaganda, sanctions, military manoeuvres and widespread ignorance of the truth about #China constitutes a clear and present danger to the peace and prosperity of the world. We cannot remain silent. We will fight for the reset of relations between the west and China.” There’s not been much public action following that, although Galloway has since said “The Chinese system is the one moving forward," claimed “The West sucks the blood of Africans, while China transfuses hope” in a video for Chinese state media, and appeared in a CGTN video in December last year saying “The foghorns which blared out the fake "genocide" of Uygur Muslims in China, now trumpet their support for an actual genocide in Gaza…When China had a problem with the Al-Qaeda/ISIS type Islamist fanatics, it didn't bomb the people the fanatics lived amongst. It didn't starve them, cut off their water, their electricity or deprive them of food. Quite the contrary: China did everything necessary to convince the public of the blind alley of terrorism, and even succeeded in deradicalizing many of the terrorists themselves. Why make so much of it now? You may ask. The Uygur "genocide" is long discredited, after all, it's just fish and chip wrapping paper now. You don't hear much about the Uygur cause now. Well for this reason: If they lied about that, what else are they lying about? Taiwan? Hong Kong? Social credit? The spy weather balloon? The British press recently "revealed" that China was inserting spying devices in teapots exported to the West. I'm not making that up.” Should be an interesting couple of months before the next election…
Foreign Secretary David Cameron released a long statement on Hong Kong's Article 23 national security proposals (as did the US). In short, he was displeased. His officials have highlighted six primary concerns:
the toughening of penalties for speech crimes and the use of the broadly defined term ‘state secrets’ will inhibit freedom of speech, of expression and of the press
the risk that the work of international organisations in Hong Kong could be labelled as ‘foreign interference’
vague references to ‘external forces’ and the new offence of ‘external interference’ threaten the legitimate and lawful diplomatic and consular activity as protected in the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations
the absence of any reference to independent oversight, or the mechanisms that would support it
lack of clarity on the procedures that will govern detention without charge, and the absence of a judicial oversight mechanism
the absence of any provision for independent and robust mechanisms to safeguard against arbitrary action by the executive on national security grounds
The observations frustrated the Hong Kong and Chinese authorities. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said Cameron's comments amounted to interference in China's internal affairs, while the Commissioner’s Office of the Foreign Ministry in Hong Kong said his remarks were "irresponsible" and "vicious smearing". "The UK does not have sovereign power, governing power or supervision power over the post-handover Hong Kong," a spokesperson said.
On China more generally, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad, the UK's Minister of State (Middle East, North Africa, South Asia, United Nations and the Commonwealth) delivered a human rights speech at the United Nations. He said “the UK will continue to press the Chinese authorities to improve their human rights record, including in multilateral institutions, where last year we led another record statement at the Third Committee on Xinjiang. In Hong Kong, we urge the authorities to repeal the National Security Law, and release Jimmy Lai.”
On the economic security front, Politico scooped that the UK is considering whether to investigate Chinese state subsidies for electric vehicle makers. It reported “U.K. Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch is preparing to instruct Britain’s trade watchdog, the Trade Remedies Authority (TRA), to open an investigation, said a consultant familiar with the plans, since British manufacturers “are worried about putting their heads above the parapet” by filing a complaint themselves.“ Labour seemed in favour: asked about it, Shadow Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said “There are some sectors where I look at just the sheer overcapacity that’s coming out of China and I worry that is inconsistent with how a healthy, global market economy should operate.” “Where there is a concern that we’re not facing free and fair and healthy competition, we’re right to use trade remedies as an answer to that.” The Economist’s Mike Bird was unimpressed, tweeting “Even if you're sympathetic to the EU or US putting tariffs on Chinese EVs, the UK stands out: - Very ambitious ICE-ban targets - Low EV production now - Not offering huge subsidies for battery production etc. Harder to see what pricing out cheap Chinese EVs achieves.” Writing in The Times, Dominic Lawson added “Haven’t our governments noticed that anything that reduces the cost of living might actually make them less unpopular?”
Speaking at the right-wing think tank Policy Exchange, Labour’s long-serving Shadow Defence Secretary John Healey MP delivered a sharp speech and launched a new Labour defence pledge: “if the British public back Labour to serve as their next government. We seek to develop and draw on the best civilian and military minds to help ministers lead the department. We will establish a full-functioning Military Strategic Headquarters within the MoD…For the avoidance of doubt, this new MSHQ is a must-make, week-one change.” On procurement, Healy announced that Labour “will establish a fully-fledged National Armaments Director (NAD). The NAD will be responsible to the strategic centre for ensuring we have the capabilities needed to execute the defence plans and operations demanded by the new era.” Reminding the audience that leader Keir Starmer promised previously that “never again will Labour go into an election again not trusted on national security”, Healy argued that “the [Ministry of Defence] must change to meet the challenges of this more dangerous world, with a new era of UK defence.” Notably, he observed that “we face the reality that European allies must take on greater responsibility for European security, as the US increasingly focuses on China and the Indo Pacific.”