Xinjiang, MPs briefed on US outbound investments, debate on China
A Beijing to Britain briefing
Hello,
We enter unprecedented territory. The UK now finds itself in a position where two of the five potential British Prime Ministers have said they believe China is committing genocide in Xinjiang. These public revelations attracted surprisingly little attention beyond the China bubble, which is remarkable given the repercussions they potentially entail. In today’s Briefing, we ask what exactly these repercussions could be for British policy and businesses going forward, and what legal obligations are triggered.
In sweltering SW1, your writer has stomped around various leadership launches and events, pooling together the key China mentions. Elsewhere, Peers gathered in the Lords to discuss what security challenges China poses to the United Kingdom; the wide-ranging discussion included points on Taiwan, Hikvision and the Belt and Road Initiative. And in Whitehall, the Business Department is looking for a Deputy Director for its new Investment Security Unit - the team tasked with investigating and analysing calls in under the new National Security and Investment Act. The lucky candidate will begin their role days after we hear the outcome of Newport Wafer Fab’s call in.
In the City, we bring you insights from a briefing note for Parliamentarians on US outbound investment screening produced by the China Research Group. Elsewhere, the resumption of economic talks between British and Chinese officials has been postponed, despite efforts from the Treasury and Department for International Trade to secure them. We examine research which analysed the last 13 years of Chinese boycotts against Western brands, and collate commentary around the news that there are now more students arriving in British universities from China than all of Europe combined.
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.