Britain’s approach to China ‘beset by incoherence’ warns damning new report

Britain should create a unit modelled on the US State Department’s China House to join up action across Government, the report recommends.

In a 53-page document, Ipac said that increasingly polarised politics in the UK and the rise of “populist parties that have yet to define their positioning” on Beijing present “an opportunity for further Chinese influence”.

The report says “Substantial evidence” also points to Britain becoming a destination for excess Chinese industrial output, known as “dumping” – and a “backdoor” into the European market in sectors such as steel, batteries and EVs

This could hinder any green technology trade deal with the US and risks deepening reliance on Chinese battery technology, creating “vulnerabilities in future transport infrastructure”, the audit warns.

Software flaws in Chinese-supplied renewables, such as solar inverters, pose a risk to UK energy security and may “undermine” Labour’s net zero goals, it says.

The report recommends Labour adopt policies that “de-risk” by diversifying supply chains, strengthening alliances and investing in homegrown alternatives in key sectors.

Backed by MPs including Shadow Foreign Secretary and former security minister Tom Tugendhat and Treasury Committee chairwoman Dame Meg Hillier, the report followed after ministers refused to publish the findings of their own audit of relations with China.

In an underlined passage, the Ipac paper says: “Successful UK engagement with China must always be framed by an understanding that the PRC is an inherently hostile authoritarian state that does not share our values.”

In a foreword to the report, former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith and Labour peer Baroness Helena Kennedy said: “Whatever our political differences, we should recognise that the opportunities and risks presented by China demand a united and considered national response.

“For many years, UK China policy has been beset by incoherence, with different departments pursuing mutually contradictory approaches.”

The forward continued: “The UK’s long-term interests have been routinely subordinated to short-term wins, or obscured by naivety about what China under Xi Jinping wants from the UK.”

A Government spokesman said: “Working with China presents opportunities supporting UK and global interests, such as boosting trade, protecting our climate and securing international stability.

“But we are also clear-eyed about the threats China poses, and national security is the first duty of government.

“We will cooperate with China where we can while meeting any challenges head on.”

A Chinese embassy spokesman said: “The so-called ‘Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China’ has consistently sought to sensationalise China-related issues and spread disinformation about China.

“It is a downright anti-China organisation. Its sole agenda is to manufacture falsehoods, mislead the public, and undermine China’s relations with other countries.

“The so-called ‘audit’ issued by this organisation distorts the facts and plays to the gallery.

“It is not even worth refuting.”