The Labour Party has taken a harsher line on China in recent weeks, offering support for Hong Kong opposition protesters and criticising the government in Beijing for…
Lisa Nandy on Wednesday said that China should be removed from involvement in UK 5G network and nuclear power projects over ongoing controversy surrounding Hong Kong.
Speaking to the Times Radio, the UK shadow foreign secretary said that the commonwealth needs “far greater strategic independence” from Beijing and that national security concerns need to be reassessed.
She stressed that the UK should focus on «homegrown» alternatives for energy and high-speed internet supply.
The Labour minister said that the Conservative government has taken “a fairly naive approach to China over the last decade”.
Referencing former David Cameron’s hailing of a “golden era” in Sino-British relations, she has instead seen Xi Jinping government “become increasingly assertive».
Citing allegations of human rights abuses towards the Uyghur minority in Xinjiang, encroachments on Taiwan and the ongoing situation in Hong Kong, she highlighted previous concerns over the joint construction of nuclear energy and UK security services, deeming Chinese tech giant Huawei as «high risk».
Nandy described the withdrawal by the United States from some of the technology that underpins the 5G network as a «potential game-changer».
She said that the UK needs to have «constructive dialogue» with China but also must stand up for «democracy, the rule of law and human rights across the world».
