Starmer’s government is grossly naive about the threat posed by China
The Labour government’s China policy is a shambles. It did not list China as a top threat under its new foreign-influence rules – even though the government admits that China has undermined Britain’s economic security and engaged in espionage and acts intended to undermine democracy.
The government’s failure to apply these rules means that China, and China-controlled entities, do not have to register their activities with the British government.
Those who lobbied against designating China as a top-tier threat argued that it would have a chilling effect on closer economic ties. The China lobby carried the day. It’s part of a pattern that sees London determined not to offend China ahead of Keir Starmer’s rumoured trip to Beijing later this year.
“China will continue to play a vital role in supporting the UK’s secure growth,” David Lammy, the foreign secretary, said last week in a speech announcing the country’s new engagement policy, the China Audit, tucked inside the UK’s National Security Strategy.
The government seems set on emulating the “golden years,” when David Cameron and China’s leader Xi Jinping shared a pint at a British pub, even as the danger posed by China grows more pronounced.
“Cooperate where we can, compete where we need to, and challenge where we must,” coos Labour, but there’s little challenge. Why has Labour gone off the rails with its China policy?
Starmer’s background as a human rights lawyer and Labour’s historical concern for human rights have fallen victim to a mistaken belief that China will somehow save the British economy.
Starmer is right to focus on economic growth. But he’s looking for it in the wrong place. Despite being the world’s second-largest economy, China registers below France as a British trading partner, and remains an insignificant investor.
China dominates trade between the two countries, with its almost £70 billion exports to Britain, more than double the £29.7 billion Britain sends to the People’s Republic.
Britain’s exports to China fell by £3.8 billion, or 12 per cent, in 2024 and accounted for only 3.4 per cent of the country’s shipments abroad. The EU and US made up 63.8 per cent of the total. The investment picture is even less promising, with Sino-British investments well under one percent of total investments.
With its economy faltering under a sustained property crash, China hardly seems like the market of the future, notwithstanding the boasts of Rachel Reeves, who says she signed deals during a trip to Beijing in January that would bring an additional £600 million in benefits to Britain over the next five years.
Britain has proven unwilling or unable to hold China to account for breaching its treaty obligations under the Sino-British Joint Declaration. Britain handed Hong Kong to China in exchange for a promise that the colony would enjoy its tradition of freedom and would be protected by the common-law system. China shredded that agreement. In the five years since Beijing imposed a vague and sweeping National Security Law on the city, nearly 2,000 people have been jailed on political charges. Newspapers have been forcibly shuttered, and the last remaining pro-democracy party this week announced it has been forced to disband.
Jimmy Lai, a newspaper publisher and British citizen, remains in solitary confinement in Hong Kong, jailed for more than 1,600 days because of his commitment to free speech and his desire to uphold the values that Britain bequeathed to its former colony. British diplomats have not even been able to meet with Mr Lai to provide consular access.
In London, officials prepare to approve a mega-embassy, China’s largest diplomatic outpost in Europe, despite opposition ranging from London residents to US politicians. The irony is that this will do little for the economy all while undermining the very national security that it’s designed to protect.
During her trip to Beijing in January, Rachel Reeves published an opinion piece in The Times titled, “Choosing not to engage with China is no choice at all.” That’s setting up a strawman. No one is suggesting that engagement with China should be cut off. But engagement should uphold the British values of freedom, liberty, and the rule of law rather than rewarding China for its lawless behaviour.
Mark Clifford is president of the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation and the author of a biography of Jimmy Lai.
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