Hello,
Welcome to ‘Beijing to Britain’ - a weekly overview of the ebbs and flows of the discussion in Westminster and the City around the UK’s relationship with China, and how it impacts politics, the private sector and society.
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The House of Commons returns tomorrow, although following the horrific murder of Sir David Amess MP on Friday, it is going to be an irregular week.
Politics
New foreign policy: Liz Truss sets out her vision
COP15: Time is running out for Governments to be indecisive
Great Britain China Centre: A new course aims to up-skill policymakers
Spotted: Our roundup of things dipping under the radar
Business
Countering the BRI: DP World teams up with CDC Group on a £1bn project
Hikvision: Another negative revelation
Spotted: Our roundup of things dipping under the radar
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Politics
Truss’s new foreign policy, COP15, training programmes
Truss the process
The new Foreign Secretary wants to reform Britain’s foreign policy
It’s been a busy week for Liz Truss. Last Sunday the Financial Times quoted Foreign Office “insiders with knowledge” regarding the new Foreign Secretary’s plans to reset ‘UK foreign and trade policy in style of Aukus deal’.
Truss has proposed focussing on resetting alliances across Europe, then honing in her diplomatic efforts on regions with the biggest bearing on Britain’s security and commercial interests. The Financial Times quotes said-official again, who jargonises that “her plan is to create this strategic framework based around deeper economic, development and security ties and set a positive, energetic tone for the department’s work.” She will reportedly be working closely with Anne-Marie Trevelyan, who replaced her as international trade secretary.
“Liz has been impressed by the incredible level of expertise in the Foreign Office but thinks we’re spread too thinly. We can’t prioritise everything” notes the Foreign Office source. In short, it looks like Truss is forming the beginnings of a pushback against Chinese and Russian influence throughout Eastern Europe and the Indo-Pacific, building from the Integrated Review framework in a more aggressive manner than her predecessor.
On Monday, Truss hosted the foreign ministers of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to “agree a joint approach to building stronger economic, security and technology partnerships to counter malign actors” - explicitly named as China, Russia and Belarus. Per her tweet, she discussed “our approach to China” with Lithuania’s foreign minister. As readers may know, Lithuania is currently in the Chinese doghouse for seeking closer relations with Taiwan and withdrawing from a Chinese forum in Europe, so this move may be viewed by Beijing as particularly provocative. The Chinese Embassy released a statement, "urg[ing] the UK to ... refrain from creating new obstacles for the development of the China-UK relationship."
Following the meeting, the quad released a joint communique. This “emphasised the need to remain principled on our shared values in the face of the systematic challenges posed by China.” They also “agreed to cooperate closely in multilateral fora, and on holding Russia and China to their international obligations, including on human rights.” There’s a NATO Foreign Ministers’ meeting in Riga next month where Truss will again emphasise her views concerning China. Readers should note closely that Anthony Blinken will be in attendance.
While the Foreign Secretary was in this meeting, her Minister for Asia Amanda Milling was in completing a visit to the Indo-Pacific region. Milling was snapped visiting the HMS Queen Elizabeth, flagship of the UK’s Carrier Strike Group, in Singapore. She was also in the Philippines and Japan.
Just how much autonomy Truss has to mould the FCDO into the shape she wants it to be is anyone’s guess at this point. There’s no indication yet as to how it fits with whatever strategy has been put forward by the National Security Council (chaired by the Prime Minister) or the China National Strategy Implementation Group (chaired by the Deputy National Security Advisor).
Climate change
COP26 is less than 30 days away and commitments are looking vague
Your writer had the intense privilege of seeing Sir David Attenborough speak (on the record) this week at Chatham House. He expressed a keen hope for humanity, positing that never before in mankind’s history have we had one existential threat to unite us and drive action. However, this will require Governments to create more positive pledges, and critically, to fulfil them. As the economist and Nobel Prize winner William Nordhaus recently noted, “there is a vast chasm between aspirations and policies”.
With this in mind, COP26 President Alok Sharma has been on the warpath. Speaking to an international audience in Paris, he urged partners to step up and deliver on their climate pledges. China was mentioned twice; once in relation to the floods over the summer, and a second time with reference to the commitment to stop funding coal projects along the BRI. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been advised that President Xi Jinping will not be attending COP26 (the Guardian is alone in saying he may still make an appearance, although a Whitehall source told the BBC “They want to be seen as green leaders so I wouldn't rule it out”).
Sharma’s speech comes at a tense time for both the British Government and the international community more generally with regard to climate action. The UK is currently facing a significant energy crisis and the Government has been reluctant to explain in policy terms how it plans to reach many of its climate targets. Various strategies due for publication to clarify such queries have been delayed, although the Financial Times reports the Government may publish details tomorrow which would put nuclear at the heart of the green agenda.
In China, COP15 (focusing on biodiversity) is currently taking place in Kunming at the same time as nearly two million people have been displaced in Shanxi province due to flooding. Like the UK, China is also facing its own energy crisis. Speaking on Tuesday, Xi emphasised that “faced with the dual tasks of economic recovery and environmental protection, developing countries need help and support all the more.” He added that “we need to practice true multilateralism, and effectively honor and implement international rules, which are not to be exploited or discarded at one's own will.”
Prince Charles delivered opening remarks at the invitation of Xi. He stressed the need for China to tap into its historic “intimate understanding of nature” to tackle climate change, and urged the adoption of a ‘polluter pays’ approach. The UK’s Ambassador to China, Caroline Wilson, was in attendance and gave an exclusive interview to the Global Times. She later shared a BBC story on China’s climate policy with the Twitter caption ““The Chinese authorities are facing a colossal task. What happens next could hardly be more important” worth a read (if you can access @BBCWorld 😉 )””
Back in London, the Prime Minister’s father told right-wing TV channel GB News that “what Prince Charles said was totally right. We have to absolutely cooperate with China.” The Royal Family, a soft power goldmine for the UK, have hardened their rhetoric around those they deem as not acting to battle climate change properly.
Charles also joined China’s Ambassador to the UK, Zheng Zeguang, China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) Chair Gao Yan and business leaders at a High-level Virtual Dialogue between HRH and Chinese Business Representatives. The dialogue, themed "Common Earth, Common Future", was hosted by CCPIT. Brian Moynihan, Chairman of Bank of America and Co-Chair of the Sustainable Markets Initiative, also gave a speech. Twenty entrepreneurs from China's energy, environmental protection, finance, manufacturing, communications, biomedical, artificial intelligence, infrastructure and other related industries participated in the dialogue. Speech from Ambassador Zheng here.
There’s growing concern in Westminster and Whitehall that Beijing is not doing enough. Some of this is legitimate climate concern; some of it stems from paranoia and distrust; the latter at times camouflaged as the former. Following China ordering coal plants to step up activity, Labour’s shadow business secretary Ed Miliband said in a speech that “we also need an ambitious target from China in this decade, peaking emissions by 2025 and declining. Being part of the club of nations means acting on climate.” Your writer has noticed an uptick in various “the net-zero crusade is futile without China” articles and editorials coming from Fleet Street.
It is unlikely to matter what the Opposition, backbench MPs or Fleet Street think of the merits of working with China on the existential threat that is climate change. The Government appears determined to work with Beijing on this issue and will brush off the critics.
Training in progress
The Great Britain China Centre programme offers a rare chance for policymakers to learn about China
In July, the Great Britain China Centre (GBCC) formally launched its flagship China capabilities programme, the Future Leaders Programme (FLP), with an inaugural cohort of 23 leaders. Marketed as “the only course of its kind to combine high-level participants from politics, government and business in addressing the capability outcomes of the Government’s Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy” it counts MPs and staffers from the Conservatives, Labour, Liberal Democrats and the SNP, senior civil servants from the FCDO, BEIS, the MOD, the Home Office, DIT, DCMS and the Treasury among its participants.
Sponsored by HSBC, Arup, Prudential plc and abrdn, as well as institutional support from the FCDO and the Cabinet Office, the FLP is aimed at offering key policymakers and officials an intensive course in all things China.
Participants so far have heard from Ambassador Caroline Wilson, John Edwards (Trade Commissioner to China), Professor Katherine Morton (Tsinghua University), Professor Rana Mitter (Oxford University), former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, Lord Mandelson (GBCC Honorary President), Professor Todd Hall (Director of the Oxford China Centre) and Nigel Adams MP (then-Minister of State for Asia). They are all due to meet in Oxford next month for the second chapter of the process.
The gulf in China knowledge between American politicians and Westminster is large. The creation of this course follows repeated warnings that British officials lack understanding and education on China matters, combined with a rise in enthusiasm and curiosity in SW1 to learn more about Beijing. What makes this particular offering more intriguing is that it runs for two years; those taking part in this process have significantly committed. If a week is a long time in politics, 24 months is an eon.
In the private sector, it is standard for staff to be ‘upskilled’, and at a higher level, for management to be offered opportunities to go on world-leading courses. This is not so for politics; Parliament is not going to pay £25,000 per MP for a three week Harvard management course. So while this programme may have its detractors, it’s your writer’s view that courses like these should be welcomed if we are to move forward in producing tangible and well researched policy and strategies.
Spotted
A short section of things we jotted down this week.
The Lords International Relations & Defence Committee (which recently published a report on the UK’s relationship with China) has launched a new inquiry. It will examine the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS); the first oral evidence session is this Wednesday.
The Parliamentary research team have released two public documents, one looking at AUKUS, and the other looking at what the Indo-Pacific tilt means for the armed forces.
The G7 Finance Ministers have agreed work together to monitor supply chain pressures as the global economy rebounds from the pandemic. Chancellor Rishi Sunak was in Washington DC this week with his peers; he announced the UK will commit over £1 billion worth of Special Drawing Rights to support vulnerable countries, and gives its backing to a new IMF Trust to help developing countries support green and sustainable economies. On a more granular level, although the UK’s Project Defend is ongoing, supply chains are an issue which cannot be solved with occasional high level meetings. It’s not clear at what level the British Government is engaging with industry experts on this issue yet either.
Vice Admiral Sir Ben Key KCB CBE has been appointed to First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff. He arrives as a critical time - per the Telegraph, since 2014, China has launched more submarines, warships, principal amphibious vessels and auxiliaries than the total number of ships currently serving in the navies of the UK, Germany, India, Spain and Taiwan.
The UK National Committee on China met with Zheng Xi Yuan, Consul General in Manchester this week (h/t this tweet). The UKNCC claims to have been discussing their upcoming conference, AFTERcop26, which will be held in conjunction with Tsinghua University.
Business
Countering the BRI, Hikvision
Hybrid
A collaboration between the Foreign Office’s CDC Group and DP World shows how the private sector can be utilised by Global Britain
Eight months ago, former-Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab set out Global Britain’s approach as a ‘force for good’. He noted that “in Africa, our offer will be grounded in the need to provide a more compelling alternative to some of the less scrupulous governments who exact a punitive long-term price for short term investments in things like infrastructure. Put very simply, our offer to Africa will be more liberal on free trade than the EU, do business with greater integrity than the Chinese or Russians, and we’re committed to serve as a force for good in the communities in which we invest.”
Half a year and one leadership change later, it appears we’re finally seeing some movement. This week, CDC Group (the Foreign Office’s investment arm) announced a £1bn deal with the UAE’s DP World. This partnership is not surprising - DP World has proven an effective investor and partner for successive British Governments, and has a strong reputation in the country.
The pair will be upgrading three ports; Dakar (Senegal), Sokhna (Egypt) and Berbera (Somaliland), at a cost of around £515,000. The remaining funds, around £710,000 per the Telegraph, will “be invested by the Dubai-based logistics group DP World as part of what the companies called a "long-term partnership to accelerate Africa’s long-term trade potential".”
Why Africa? The CDC explains: “Africa’s full potential is limited by inadequate ports and logistics and trade bottlenecks, putting the brakes on economic growth in some of the world’s fastest growing economies and undermining social resilience in the least developed parts of the world.”
In the wider context of the British Government cutting foreign aid, this public/private sector collaboration could create an intriguing precedent. Interestingly, DP World has warned supply chain issues could last for another two years due to China’s Covid policy. Chairman Sultan bin Sulayem said “China will not tolerate or allow any opportunity for this (virus) to spread. So, if they have an infection, they close the port — and that reflects in the supply chain.”
In the spotlight
Another Hikvision drama
Readers will by now be familiar with Hikvision. The surveillance technology firm is deeply rooted throughout the UK’s councils, hospitals and public buildings, despite ongoing allegations concerning its role in the ‘re-education’ camps in Xinjiang. It has been in the targets of some MPs for a while now, and in June this year the Foreign Affairs Committee officially recommended that “equipment manufactured by companies such as Hikvision and Dahua should not be permitted to operate within the UK” due to its connections to the camps. The company is also blacklist by the American Government.
In a statement following the Foreign Affairs Committee report, Hikvision said “This is unsubstantiated and not underpinned by evidence…This knee jerk response is entirely disproportionate, ill-measured, and reinforces the notion that this is motivated by political influences.” They add “Hikvision has invested significant resources to strengthen its corporate governance framework including retaining Arent Fox, led by human rights expert and former US Ambassador Pierre-Richard Prosper, to advise on human rights compliance. Importantly, following an investigation, the Arent Fox team concluded that, ‘In the end, we do not find that Hikvision entered into the five projects in Xinjiang with the intent to knowingly engage in human rights abuses or find that Hikvision knowingly or intentionally committed human rights abuses itself or that it acted in wilful disregard.’” The company has also been in an ongoing battle with the UK's Surveillance Camera Commissioner.
In a new revelation first reported by Politico, an anonymous security researcher found a glitch in Hikvision's products that "permits an attacker to gain full control of the device," they said in September. The researcher said the cameras had "the highest level of critical vulnerability."
While the company has told users to download a patch that fixes the issue, this latest episode will likely harden European attitudes to allowing Hikvision to operate with such limited scrutiny. And if European politicians act on this, it may have a domino effect on British MPs.
Spotted
A short section of things we jotted down this week.
The UK is hosting a Global Investment Summit in London next week, both Johnson and the Queen will attend. Ahead of the event, the Government has published a press release outlining the progress it has made in making “the UK a global leader in green technology and finance.”
In two separate notes, British genetics firm Silence Therapeutics PLC has announced a collaboration with one of China’s biggest drug developers, Hansoh Pharma, in a deal that could be worth US$1.3bn in milestone payments, and moved listing plans from AIM to Nasdaq.
John Swire & Sons Limited, the parent company of Swire Group, has become a strategic partner of the Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping.
CC Asia Alpha fund manager Angus Coupland says China's regulatory crackdowns should be viewed as positive, as they tackle inequality, protect workers and break up monopolies.
UK Export Finance, the UK’s export credit agency, has further increased its international business development network with 4 new hires in North America, Africa and Asia-Pacific. Jesse McDougall joins UKEF as Country Head for the USA, Mohammed Saad as Country Head for Egypt, Valentino Dass as County Head for Malaysia, and Tim Meaney as Country Head for the Philippines.
LinkedIn is launching a new version of its app in China after facing "a significantly more challenging operating environment and greater compliance requirements in China." As Axios notes, “the news comes weeks after Axios China Reporter Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian reported that LinkedIn blocked the profiles of several U.S. journalists from the company's China-based platform, citing "prohibited content.””
Reading list
How Xi Jinping’s China differs from Mao’s. The Economist
对台海问题的十点预测 (Ten predictions on Taiwan Strait issues). Chairman Rabbit
The Triumph and Terror of Wang Huning. Palladium
Xi Jinping’s Evergrande dilemma has repercussions far beyond China. Kevin Rudd, The Financial Times
Washington Is Getting China Wrong. The Atlantic
'Neither China nor the US fits neatly into any one box’ Yuen Yuen Ang, Project Syndicate
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