China spy row reveals a divided Whitehall
The UK’s relationship with China has swung through various degrees of warmth in recent years, but there have been some recurring themes. When David Cameron and George Osborne hailed the “golden era” of UK-China relations more than a decade ago, critics accused the pair of naivety and even recklessness.
Nick Timothy, who would go on to serve as Chief of Staff to Theresa May and become a Tory MP, warned in 2015 that the government was “selling our national security to China.” The Intelligence and Security Committee made the same warnings, albeit in more bureaucratic language.
In the end, the “golden era” didn’t last long but China’s economic muscle has ensured that large parts of Whitehall remain committed to the idea that Britain simply can’t afford to offend the world’s second largest economy.
Plenty of Labour MPs who criticised the Conservative government’s approach under Cameron have also gone rather quiet since entering government.
The collapse of the alleged Chinese spying case is just the latest example of the British government appearing reluctant to antagonise China in any way. While ministers absolutely deny any involvement in the decisions that caused the case to crumble, one can’t help but think of their apparent enthusiasm for China’s new mega embassy in London – against the advice of security officials.
One thinks of their apparent reluctance to include China in new foreign influence rules requiring anyone in the UK acting on behalf of a foreign power or entity to declare their activities to the government. So far, the new rules only apply to Russia and Iran. The Guardian reports that China “threatened to retaliate” if the government included them in the scope of the rules.
One also remembers David Lammy, before he was shuffled out of the Foreign Office, reportedly urging against a Royal Navy freedom of navigation exercise that would see British warships passing through the Taiwan Strait for fear of jeopardising an upcoming UK ministerial visit to China. Fortunately, the Ministry of Defence won that arm wrestle and yet again the Foreign Office failed to cover itself in glory.
It seems only MI5, responsible for domestic security and countering foreign threats, is prepared to speak with clarity on China, which is a shame as MI5 isn’t allowed to speak much at all. Their Director General has warned publicly of the “epic scale” of Chinese espionage activity in the UK.
Unfortunately, it seems that ministers and certain parts of Whitehall simply wish this wasn’t the case, or pretend that it isn’t.