Xi and Boris phone call, Truss and China, Diplomacy check in, Ministry of Defence and AI, Jobs
A Beijing to Britain briefing
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.
Here’s what we’re looking at this week.
Politics
Ring Ring: The Foreign Secretary has China in her sights
Diplomacy update: Who’s talking to who
Truss on China: A recap of her activity over the last week
AI on the menu: Policy is beginning to move forward
Committee corridors: China looms over multiple Select Committees
Spotted: Our roundup of things dipping under the radar
Business
Slave to the dollar: MPs discuss the investment industry’s exposure to slave labour
Nuclear: A new scheme will remove Chinese investment
Budget: What parts are worth noting
Spotted: Our roundup of things dipping under the radar
First, a quick look at this week for China in Parliament
18 mentions of China
No mentions of Xi Jinping
4 mentions of Hong Kong
No mentions of CCP
2 mentions of Taiwan
589 out of 650 MPs (90.6%) have a Twitter account.
Who’s asking what?
Order! Order!
Some of the more eye-catching questions asked in Westminster this week
Tim Loughton (Tory and IPAC) asked “the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether British Embassy staff in Beijing have been instructed not to attend (a) events promoting the Winter Olympics and (b) the Winter Olympics in 2022.”
Andrew Rosindell (Tory) asked “the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the implications for her Department's policies of recent reports that China will be able to invade Taiwan by 2025.”
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Politics
Johnson and Xi, diplomacy latest, Truss and China, AI, Committees
Ring ring
Two world leaders pick up the phone
On Friday morning, Prime Minister Boris Johnson spoke on phone with China’s President Xi Jinping. Here are the readouts from both sides:
Downing Street: “The Prime Minister spoke to China’s President Xi Jinping this morning in an extensive conversation. They discussed a range of issues, including action to address the climate crisis ahead of COP26, global trade and economic cooperation, and security and human rights.
The Prime Minister acknowledged China’s new Nationally Determined Contribution and welcomed their work on the COP15 Biodiversity Summit, noting how critical protecting nature is to our overall climate objectives.
He emphasised the importance of all countries stepping up their ambition on climate change at COP26 and taking concrete action to cut emissions and expedite the transition to renewable energy, including phasing out coal.
They also discussed wider international security issues, including the situation in Afghanistan. The leaders recognised that there were areas of disagreement and difficulty in the bilateral relationship. The Prime Minister raised the United Kingdom’s concerns about the erosion of democracy in Hong Kong and human rights in Xinjiang.
At the same time, they agreed to cooperate on areas of shared interest, such as developing clean and green technology and supporting the sustainable recovery of the global economy.”
Chinese readout: “新华社北京10月29日电 国家主席习近平10月29日同英国首相约翰逊通电话。
习近平指出,当前新冠肺炎疫情起伏反复,世界经济艰难复苏,中英关系机遇和挑战并存。中英同为联合国安理会常任理事国和世界主要经济体,应该保持良好沟通,加强合作,为世界早日战胜疫情、完善全球治理、实现发展繁荣作出贡献。明年是中英建立大使级外交关系50周年,双方要把握机遇,应对挑战,共同努力,推动中英关系在正确轨道上行稳致远。
习近平强调,中英关系要发展好,互信是基础,认知是前提,妥善处理分歧是关键。中方从战略高度和长远角度看待中英关系,希望英方尊重事实,全面客观看待中国发展道路和制度。中英贸易投资克服疫情影响逆势增长,再次证明中英合作互利共赢。中方欢迎英方对华出口更多优质产品,拓展医疗卫生、绿色发展、数字经济、金融、创新等领域合作。希望英方为中资企业提供公平、公正、非歧视待遇,中方也将为英国企业在华合作提供便利。双方应该以北京冬奥会为契机,深化体育合作和人文交流。双方应该践行真正的多边主义。欢迎英方参与全球发展倡议,为落实联合国2030年可持续发展议程注入动力。
习近平强调,中方宣布碳达峰、碳中和目标,并提出一系列提高国家自主贡献力度的具体举措,意味着广泛而深刻的经济社会变革,需要循序渐进和付出艰苦努力。中国加快绿色低碳发展的决心坚定不移,一贯言出必行。中方支持英方发挥《联合国气候变化框架公约》第二十六次缔约方大会主席国作用,坚持共同但有区别的责任原则,促使各国将高雄心转化为实实在在的行动力。
约翰逊表示,我非常珍视英国同中国的关系。我赞同习近平主席对英中关系发展的意见。英中两国在全球公共卫生、世界经济复苏、伊朗核、反恐等许多重要问题上都拥有共识和共同利益,双方需要加强坦诚对话、友好合作。英方愿同中方深化经贸、教育、清洁能源等领域合作,欢迎中国企业赴英投资合作,愿为中方企业提供开放的营商环境。英方愿同中方共同努力,推动英中关系取得更大发展。祝贺中方成功举办昆明《生物多样性公约》第十五次缔约方大会第一阶段会议,期待同中方就应对全球气候变化和生物多样性保护问题保持密切沟通,努力推动全球实现平衡、可持续发展。.”
Roughly translated: “Xi pointed out that the current Covid 19 epidemic is recurring, the world economy is struggling to recover, and there are opportunities and challenges in Sino-British relations. As a permanent member of the UN Security Council and a major world economy, China and the UK should maintain good communication, strengthen cooperation and contribute to the world's early victory over the epidemic, improve global governance and achieve development and prosperity. As next year marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of ambassadorial diplomatic relations between China and the UK, both sides should grasp the opportunities, address the challenges and work together to promote China-UK relations on the right track.
Xi stressed that for China-UK relations to develop well, mutual trust is the foundation, awareness is the prerequisite and proper handling of differences is the key. China views China-UK relations from a strategic and long-term perspective and hopes that the British side will respect the facts and take a comprehensive and objective view of China's development path and system. China-UK trade and investment has grown against the trend despite the impact of the epidemic, proving once again that China-UK cooperation is mutually beneficial and win-win. China welcomes the British side to export more quality products to China and expand cooperation in areas such as healthcare, green development, digital economy, finance and innovation. We hope that the British side will provide fair, equitable and non-discriminatory treatment to Chinese enterprises, and that China will also facilitate cooperation between British enterprises in China. The two sides should use the Beijing Winter Olympics as an opportunity to deepen sports cooperation and humanities exchanges. Both sides should practise genuine multilateralism. The British side is welcome to participate in global development initiatives and give impetus to the implementation of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Xi stressed that China's announcement of its carbon peak and carbon neutral targets and a series of concrete initiatives to increase the country's autonomous contribution implies a broad and profound economic and social transformation, which requires gradual and painstaking efforts. China's determination to accelerate green and low-carbon development is unwavering, and it has always been true to its words. China supports the British side in its role as President of the 26th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), adhering to the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and prompting countries to turn high ambitions into real action.
Johnson said I the UK's relationship with China. I share President Xi Jinping's views on the development of the UK-China relationship. Britain and China share a common understanding and common interests on many important issues such as global public health, world economic recovery, Iran's nuclear and counter-terrorism, and both sides need to strengthen frank dialogue and friendly cooperation. The British side is willing to deepen cooperation with China in the fields of trade and economy, education and clean energy, welcome Chinese enterprises to invest and cooperate in the UK, and is willing to provide an open business environment for Chinese enterprises. The UK is willing to work with China to promote greater development of UK-China relations. We congratulate China on the success of the first phase of the 15th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in Kunming and look forward to maintaining close communication with China on addressing global climate change and biodiversity conservation issues, and working to promote balanced and sustainable development worldwide.”
China’s readout is clearly the more comprehensive of the two (although with the obvious omission of anything to do with human rights). It would be handy to see what Johnson actually said per Chinese investment in the UK, and on the Beijing Winter Olympics too.
Diplomacy check in
Who’s talking to who and what are they saying
Outside of calls with President Xi, Downing Street has been racking up a hefty phone bill over the last week. With COP26 kicking off tomorrow, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been hitting the lines with other world leaders trying to get them to commit to pledges. Let’s recap them…
On Monday, the PM spoke to Russian President Putin (link) and Indonesian President Widodo (link). On Tuesday, he spoke to Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (link), “underlin[ing] the UK’s ambition to strengthen our relationships in the Indo-Pacific, including with Singapore. He said this is exemplified by our ASEAN Dialogue Partner Status, our application to join the CPTPP and the deployment of the UK’s Carrier Strike Group, which visited Singapore earlier this year.”
Johnson then spoke to the Prime Minister of Vietnam, Pham Minh Chinh (link), noting “the growing strength of the relationship between the United Kingdom and Vietnam and committed to deepening our strategic partnership further, including on defence and security” and explicitly mentioning “the UK’s planned accession to the CPTPP trade bloc.”
It’s odd that the Government makes so little of these calls from a PR perspective. Indonesia after all is the world’s third largest democracy, and Singapore and Vietnam will both play vital roles in any Indo-Pacific tilt. Often the only coverage they receive comes through a Department email and a corresponding tweet.
On Friday, aside from meeting President Xi, the PM spoke to Polish Prime Minister Mateus Morawiecki (link), discussing “the UK-Poland relationship and agreed on its strength and importance in institutions like NATO.” He also met King Abdullah II of Jordan (link), where the pair “agreed to continue to collaborate closely on defence and security, as well as further developing our trade and prosperity links.”
Separately, COP26 President Alok Sharma met China’s Special Climate Envoy Minister Xie Zhenhua again.
In a Trussle
It’s worth recapping the new Foreign Secretary’s last few days and what impact they may have had on UK-China relations. Last Thursday, Liz Truss issued a statement concerning disqualification of District Councillors in Hong Kong. She also sent out a tweet, and received a smattering of media attention on both (worth noting how far Hong Kong has fallen off Fleet Street’s radar over the last six months.)
The next day, she had a phone call with her Chinese near-counterpart Wang Yi. According to the Chinese readout, the pair discussed a wide range of issues, including but not limited to the latter’s concern over AUKUS, the UN Security Council, and UK-China relations in general. The readout also credited Truss with telling Wang that “Britain is willing to strengthen cooperation with China to ensure the COP26 a success.” There was no British readout of the meeting, and Truss has not tweeted about it (unusual), but did mention it in passing during a Commons appearance a few days later (more below).
Later on that day, the Telegraph published an interview with her. The headline summarises the overall feel of the piece - ‘Liz Truss: Britain cannot be dependent on China’. Readers should note the paper’s explicit support for Truss’s current China positioning; the next day it followed up with a Telegraph View - ‘Liz Truss is right to question China's reliability’.
On Monday this week, the British media picked up on Chinese Embassy comments regarding Truss’s Hong Kong statement four days prior. The Telegraph again lead on this, headlining their piece ‘Foreign Secretary rebuked by China for expressing concern over political freedoms in Hong Kong’.
Things came to a head on Tuesday, when Truss was in the Commons to answer FCDO questions from MPs. Asked by Conservative MP James Grundy “what diplomatic steps her Department is taking to strengthen economic and security ties with international allies to help challenge hostile actors”, she mentioned building ties with India, America and Asian countries.
Shadow Foreign Secretary Lisa Nandy went on the front foot, stating “We will never be taken seriously in Beijing if we do not claw back some of the influence we have lost in the world”, asking “with just days to go until the most important climate summit in a generation, has she clawed back some of that [Official Development Assistance] funding in tomorrow’s Budget, or will we see the same story playing out of a Foreign Secretary who is not taken seriously in Beijing because she is not taken seriously around her own Cabinet table?” Nandy then went in again on Xinjiang, and asked Truss if the UK would commit to vetoing China’s application to the CPTPP.
Truss responded that she had raised Xinjiang on the phone with Yang last week, and that it “is important that we trade with China, but we need to ensure that it is reliable trade, that it avoids strategic dependency and that it does not involve the violation of intellectual property rights or forced technology transfer.” Read the entire thing here - we’ve significantly shortened their exchange for brevity.
On Twitter, the Foreign Secretary (who has recently returned from a tour of India and the Gulf) tweeted a congratulations to Canada’s new Foreign Secretary, and saying she will work to “Deepen defence & security ties” between the two countries. She tweeted that she wanted closer economic ties with India, noting that she discussed the “Backing of infrastructure finance through Build Back Better World”. As we have noted before, the UK’s stated rhetoric around India is not quite squared away with the country’s continued human rights abuses. This is a blind spot that will be exploited by others in the future.
Truss also met with Indonesia’s Luhut Pandjaitan to discuss economic ties, deepening tech links, and “ensuring an open and secure Indo-Pacific.” Her Minister for Asia Amanda Milling spoke to Indonesian Minister Arifin Tasrif on the same day.
Truss has been in her new role for just over a month. In this time, she has made it clear that China is a top geopolitical priority, bringing a sense of urgency to the issue compared to her predecessor and also leaning into the economic argument more than the human rights one. We suspect that her performance in this role will set the groundwork for a leadership run in 2023, and view her actions accordingly.
Artificial Intelligence
Keep a close eye on the MoD’s AI movements
“It is very important that we don’t become strategically dependent on high-risk vendors … areas like quantum, artificial intelligence, cyber security where we need to make sure the partners we’re innovating with are reliable and there is a bond of trust there.” This is one of the core message Foreign Secretary Liz Truss tried to convey in her Telegraph interview last weekend.
AI is increasingly becoming included in the West v China conversation in the UK at a policy level. This week, the UK’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) hosted the fourth AI Partnership for Defence (AI PfD) dialogue. This is worth examining in closer scrutiny.
The partnership, which expanded from 13 to 16 nations in May, was launched by the US Department of Defense (DoD) Joint AI Centre (JAIC) in 2020 to collaborate and share global best practice. This was the first time it was held outside the US.
General Sir Patrick Sanders, the head of UK Strategic Command, said:
“By bringing together 16 like-minded nations to discuss AI, this partnership opens an essential international dialogue that benefits our collective Defence and promotes a common vision for the responsible use of AI.”
The UK delegation includes representatives from the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl), the new Defence AI Centre and the Defence AI and Autonomy Unit with UK participation coordinated by the British Defence Staff in Washington DC. The 2-day event focused on AI governance, and considered the role of organisational strategies, policies, standards, regulation and risk management frameworks in both providing assurance, and enabling innovation.
Steve Meers, head of Dstl’s AI Centre, said:
“The AI partnership is a vitally important initiative that builds on a growing set of international nations coming together to ensure we are all clear and agree on the responsible application of AI, and to support one another as we deal with global defence and security challenges.”
As readers will know, President Xi and China have taken a much more active interest in AI innovation than most Western Governments. China’s State Council published a 2017 strategy paper on developing its AI industries, and in a speech earlier that year, President Xi had also set out his ambitions on the issue. More generally, there is a theme slipping into the West v China narrative that China is close to being neck and neck with America on AI.
Looking to Whitehall, it’s been an announcement-heavy fortnight on AI issues. UK, USA and Canadian regulators identified 10 guiding principles to be addressed when medical devices use AI or machine learning software, aiming to “lay the foundation for developing good machine learning practices (GMLP) and … help guide future growth in this rapidly progressing field.” Separately, US and UK research labs have collaborated on autonomy and AI under the watchful eye of the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), in partnership with the UK’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl).
On Friday, the Government also launched a consultation on how the copyright and patent system should deal with regards to AI. “The Government wants the UK to be at the forefront of this revolution, to encourage innovation in AI technology and promote its use for the public good. At the same time, we want to preserve the central role of intellectual property (IP) in promoting human creativity and innovation.”
Again, as a reminder - it was only last week that Foreign Secretary Liz Truss announced the Government would be treating Chinese collaboration and investment in AI with more strategic caution.
Committee corridors
Out of the limelight, various Committees continue to scrutinise elements of the UK’s relationship with China
Of these, the Foreign Affairs Committee probably has the widest remit. Recent inquiries have looked at specific issues ranging from Xinjiang to removing Hikivision technology from the UK.
This week it scored a win - in response to the Committee’s report - “Sovereignty for Sale” - which examined the UK’s sale of strategic assets, the Government has committed to creating a dedicated FCDO team to engage with and support the Investment Security Unit (ISU).
Peeling pack the Whitehall jargon, this means that a Foreign Office team will now work with the ISU (which sits within the Business Department). In theory, this should now mean a marriage of geopolitical and business expertise on potential takeovers. Collaboration between Departments is often slow (if existent), so this should help make the process slightly more streamlined. Let’s see how it pans out.
Newport Wafer Fab, identified again in the Government’s response, represents the first real test for the recently passed National Security and Investment Act. As Chair of the Committee Tom Tugendhat states, “We need to take back control of our key strategic assets. Too often they’re in the hands of foreign, state-backed enterprises. That threatens our sovereignty and sometimes makes us reliant on foreign dictators.”
Two points to consider. First, around this time last year we noted that no fewer than eight of the Committee’s eleven members have been critical or expressed sceptical views of China. Its Chair is literally the co-founder of the China Research Group. Second, being a member of a Select Committee offers backbench MPs an almost unmatched opportunity to engage with experts on the issues they focus on. In theory, this means that Committee MPs should be some of the best briefed in Parliament on the subjects of their inquires.
The FAC also heard evidence from Professor Rory Medcalf, Head of the National Security College at Crawford School of Public Policy, Dr Jack Holland, Associate Professor in International Relations/Security at University of Leeds and Dr Sidharth Kaushal, Research Fellow at Royal United Services Institute on AUKUS this week.
Finally, two other Committees we’re currently watching: the International Relations and Defence Committee is interviewing experts on the relevancy of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. And the Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy, which has recently interviewed the Government’s National Security Adviser. The NSA referred to China as “the issue [that is] probably the most complex of all where, as you say, there are pros and cons.” In recent months, the National Security Council (chaired by the PM) has been slammed over its failure in Afghanistan, and for “its core business [being] obliging a politically focused group of strategically inexperienced and sometimes uninterested politicians to think, prepare and plan long term and strategically”.
Spotted
A short section of things we jotted down this week.
China’s Ambassador to the UK, Zheng Zeguang, wrote a piece in the Guardian - ‘China will honour its climate pledges – look at the changes we have already made’. China’s climate goals continue to be met with scepticism by many in the backbenches and Fleet Street, although your writer does wonder if certain views are perhaps clouded by partisanship (it is fairly remarkable to see how many commentators and politicians skim over India’s climate change efforts for example). Regardless, the message that China is still polluting while the UK cuts emissions is beginning to seep through to the British public. We’re particularly interested in seeing which Tory MPs pick up on this message as a chance to ‘whataboutism’ on Britain’s own climate commitments. However, as Bill Bishop of Sinocism noted in a tweet, “China will enact climate policies that suit its interests..they have a lot of reasons 2b v aggressive. they wont change because US is "nicer" to them; they might move more if US had plans so ambitious that China looks "bad" in comparison, but that is politically impossible here”
IPAC members gathered in Rome this week ahead of the G20 meeting. Speaking ahead of the event, IPAC co-chair Iain Duncan Smith said: “We will be in Rome to draw attention to President Xi and the Chinese Communist Party’s systematic onslaught on democracy, human rights and the rule of law. We will be in Rome to remind democratic states of their responsibility to safeguard the international rules based order – rules that we have helped to shape and are now under threat from Beijing. True leadership means addressing these challenges, not pretending they don’t exist. This G20 must be a turning point and China must be at the top of the agenda.” Separately, IPAC welcomed its first Indian legislators to the fold. The pair said “The government of the People’s Republic of China poses an unprecedented challenge to human rights and the international rules based order.”
Lib Dem Christine Jardine met with a new(ish) Hong Kong focussed group in Parliament this week. The Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong has been drumming up political support over the last few months - it’s chaired by James B. Cunningham, former US ambassador and deputy permanent representative to the United Nations (1999 -2004), consul general for Hong Kong and Macau (2005-2008), ambassador to Israel (2008-2011) and deputy ambassador and ambassador to Afghanistan (2011-2014). Also note the involvement of ex-SCMP editor-in-chief Mark Clifford as President.
In Parliament, the Foreign Secretary responded to a question concerning the UK’s view on protecting Taiwan. She replied “The large number of Chinese military flights that took place near Taiwan at the beginning of October are not conducive to peace and stability in the region. We need peaceful resolution through constructive dialogue, and the work that the United Kingdom is doing through the carrier strike group and our security partnerships is contributing to peace across the region.”
Niche but useful to note - having been on radio silence for months, Zhang Meifang, Consul General of the PRC in Belfast, has become an active Tweeter. Her outputs usually follow the exact same format as the PRC London Embassy’s account.
The UK Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency have signed a Memorandum of Understanding on joint activities and information sharing on space. (Link)
Business
Investment, nuclear, Budget highlights, Jobs
Closer scrutiny
MPs discuss the investment industry’s potential exposure to slave labour
How do we make sure investment businesses are ensuring they are making the ethical investments for their customers and consumers? This was the crux of the question MPs discussed this week.
In his first ever Westminster Hall debate session, Tory MP Gareth Davies noted that “some 795 financial organisations published modern slavery statements under the Act last year, but of 79 asset managers who submitted a statement, only 27% disclosed that they had conducted due diligence on modern slavery risks.”
Davies suggested three actions: “First, the Government could broaden section 54 of the Act and consult on including a requirement that investment portfolios are included, as they are in Australia. Secondly, the Government could issue specific statutory guidance on how investors can assess modern slavery risks—again, as they do in Australia—so they are equipped with knowledge on that assessment. Thirdly, as it is a global problem that needs a global solution, we should work with our global allies to establish a taskforce, modelled on the taskforce on climate-related disclosures. Although the issue is different, the approach can be the same”.
Of particular note was the Government’s commitment, via Rachel Maclean, Home Office Minister, to publish “a new [modern slavery] strategy next spring, which will set the strategic direction for years to come.”
Here’s the full briefing via Parliament’s website. Worth skimming.
Going nuclear
A new Bill is introduced
“A very bad deal for consumers” is how Tom Burke, co-founder of E3G, a climate think-tank, summarised the Government’s latest creation to fund nuclear power stations. The nuclear energy financing bill will use a funding model known as the regulated asset base (RAB). Under the plan, consumers will contribute upfront to the cost of new nuclear power projects during their construction phase.
Justifying the creation of the corresponding Nuclear Energy (Financing) Bill, Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said “The existing financing scheme led to too many overseas nuclear developers walking away from projects, setting Britain back years.” The RAB model aims to “reduce the UK’s reliance on overseas developers for financing new nuclear projects by substantially increasing the pool of private investors to include British pension funds, insurers and other institutional investors.”
Although those “overseas developers” were not named, it was very clear to most that Chinese companies were in the crosshairs. Indeed, the Financial Times rolled out the headline ‘UK to shut out China with revamped nuclear funding model’.
This is a fascinating snippet from the FT’s coverage “The plan would also help the business secretary avoid using new national security and investment legislation that comes into force in January, to forcibly block Chinese involvement — a move that would heighten tensions with Beijing.” They say necessity breeds innovation, but in this case it appears fear of angering China produces similar results.
And the rest
Some of the announcements from Wednesday’s Budget we want to highlight:
Cuts to Foreign Aid will remain in place until at least 2024. Make of that what you will at a time when Downing Street is trying to project a Global Britain brand.
The government is launching Future Fund: Breakthrough to support the scale up of the most innovative, Research and Development (R&D)-intensive businesses. R&D featured heavily in this Budget, and although the Chancellor promised that an increase in funding is on the way, peeling back the political jargon it seems the government will spend £20bn a year on R&D investment in the 2024-25 tax year, down from a previous commitment of £22bn. The £22bn target will be hit two years later than previously planned, in 2026-27.
Additionally, the Government wants to introduce “an elite points-based visa. Within this visa there will be a ’scaleup’ stream, enabling those with a job offer from a recognised UK scale-up to qualify for a fast-track visa”. This should come into play Q1 2022.
Good news for the Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA) though - it was confirmed that it would be receiving £800m. Readers may remember ARIA’s remit: “ARIA will exclusively focus on projects with potential to produce transformative technological change, or a paradigm-shift in an area of science. While it is anticipated that most programmes may fail in achieving their ambitious aims, those which succeed will have profound and positive impact on society.” Have a skim of the CEO application letter here.
Some £7bn for transport projects in areas including Greater Manchester, the West Midlands and South Yorkshire. Keep an eye on which companies local authorities choose to partner with on these projects, especially around Manchester which has significant financial and cultural ties to China and its businesses.
Read the entire thing here.
JOBS
Two spots worth highlighting.
The APPG on China and the Great Britain China Council (GBCC) are hiring a joint project manager. Details here.
End Violence & Racism Against ESEA Communities is hiring a full-time Administrator, £21,500pa, remote working. Details here.
Reading list
America Is Turning Asia Into a Powder Keg. Van Jackson, Foreign Affairs
Was US-China engagement premised on Chinese political liberalization? William Overholt, The Hill
The Inevitable Rivalry. John J. Mearsheimer, Foreign Affairs
China’s energy crisis. Ian Williams, The Spectator
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