Minister: UK must balance national security concerns over China with trade aims

Britain has to balance “very clear” national security concerns, including over China, with being an “outwardly facing” trading nation in light of its “fragile” economy, according to a Foreign Office minister.

Catherine West said the country must “sometimes be involved” with nations whose values “may not completely align with ours”, and that British businesses in Hong Kong say it is “so lovely” when they are visited by MPs.

She added Britain’s “rather exposed position” after Brexit means it has to be “outwardly looking in our economy if we want our residents and our constituents to get away from food banks”.

Her remarks came as she defended Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ visit to China in the wake of arrest warrants being issued for pro-democracy activists living in the UK.

Conservative former leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith – who is among a number of MPs sanctioned by China – said the arrest warrants are “the last act of a Chinese Communist Party who don’t care what countries like the UK say” as he pressed for sanctions to be imposed.

Several other MPs voiced concerns over the safety of Hongkongers living in the UK.

Chancellor Ms Reeves is due to visit China this week for talks with vice premier He Lifeng, following a meeting between Sir Keir Starmer and Chinese leader Xi Jinping in November.

Ms West rejected calls to cancel the trip as MPs questioned why it is going ahead after Hong Kong police offered rewards for information leading to the arrests of six campaigners, four of whom are currently living in the UK.

In an urgent question in the Commons, shadow foreign secretary Dame Priti Patel said the warrants “show this Government’s supposed reset with China is just one way”.

She said: “Before meeting President Xi, the Prime Minister had said he wanted a relationship that is consistent, durable and respectful, and stated that the pair agree that there be no more surprises.”

Dame Priti added: “Can the minister confirm with a simple yes or no, whether the Chancellor is going to be raising these bounties at the highest level when she jets off to China next week to beg for a quick investment for the bailout of her failing economic strategy? She cannot ignore the human rights issues on her visit.”

Ms West replied: “We’re in a position where our economy is quite fragile, and whilst we have very clear national security concerns, and today’s a really good example of those, we do have to balance those with being an outwardly facing and globally trading nation, where we need to sometimes be involved with other countries where their values may not completely align with ours.

“And so I make no apologies for trying to support British business abroad, including in Hong Kong, where British businesses have said it is so lovely to see MPs visit us.”

Liberal Democrat Foreign Affairs spokesperson Calum Miller also urged the Government to “reconsider” the Chancellor’s trip to Beijing, in light of the warrants and the continued detention of Jimmy Lai.

Pro-democracy supporter Mr Lai was jailed in late 2020 in Hong Kong, and is currently being held in solitary confinement after being accused of violating the territory’s national security law.

Ms West said she has “personally promised” Mr Lai’s son that she would raise the case of his father, adding: “Unfortunately, because of our rather exposed position post-Brexit, we do have to be outwardly looking in our economy if we want our residents and our constituents to get away from food banks.”

Labour MP Sarah Owen (Luton North) sought assurances that UK police forces fully understand the “seriousness of the threat” to the safety of Hongkongers on UK soil.

Labour MP Mark Sewards (Leeds South West and Morley) highlighted the case of UK resident Chloe Cheung and said she had been subjected to a £100,000 bounty for “telling the truth” about Mr Lai.

Ms West said she would ensure a “specially designed package of safety” is developed for the woman if Mr Sewards felt more needed to be done.

After Liberal Democrat MP Bobby Dean (Carshalton and Wallington) suggested the Government should “cancel the Chancellor’s visit” to China, Ms West said: “There will not be cancelling of trips on the basis that there has to be an element of outward focus by the UK, particularly given the legacy economically and the position we find ourselves in.”

Luke de Pulford, executive director of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, described Ms West’s remarks on the UK’s trading goals as a “shocking admission”.

He wrote on social media site X: “Erm, no. We don’t trade away our national security.”