Rishi Sunak is accused of a bid to water down a security report on China over fears of its impact on trade with the country
- Rishi Sunak was last night accused of trying to ‘water down’ a security report
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Rishi Sunak was last night accused of trying to ‘water down’ an official security report on China to boost economic ties with the country.
Whitehall sources said Mr Sunak attempted to insert more ‘ambitious’ language on economic links with Beijing into the last ‘Integrated Review’ of Britain’s defence and security policy, which was published in 2021.
Mr Sunak, who was chancellor at the time, is said to have been concerned that adopting a hostile stance towards China could hit investment and trade, and damage the UK’s economy.
A Whitehall source said that the Treasury made a bid to change the text at the last minute and inserted a new aim that the UK should seek to establish an ‘ambitious economic relationship’ with the communist superpower.
The change was made to a late draft of the document and was only removed after it was vetoed by then prime minister Boris Johnson as it was being prepared for the printers.
Rishi Sunak was last night accused of trying to ‘water down’ an official security report on China to boost economic ties with the country
‘The Treasury tried to water down the Integrated Review at the last moment and they very nearly got away with it,’ the source said.
‘They wanted to introduce this phrase about seeking an ambitious economic relationship, which would have totally jarred with the warnings about the threat that China poses to our values.
‘We would have been slaughtered over the contradiction if that phrase had been included.
‘The proposal came from the Treasury but it’s inconceivable that Rishi didn’t know about it and approve it – it was a bad misjudgement.’
A Government source last night played down the row, saying Mr Sunak had ‘very little involvement’ in the process and would not have requested the change personally.
In a pointed intervention this month, Miss Truss said it was time to stop ‘rolling out the red carpet’ for the Chinese government, and that the world was ‘in danger’ from the growing menace posed by authoritarian regimes led by Beijing
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The source pointed out that Mr Sunak has made a number of tough statements on China in recent months, including branding Beijing ‘the largest threat to Britain and the world’s security and prosperity’.
But the Treasury proposal triggered protests from the then trade secretary Liz Truss and from Dominic Raab, who was then foreign secretary and is now Deputy Prime Minister.
It was blocked at the final moment by Mr Johnson, who ordered officials to change the word ‘ambitious’ to ‘positive’.
The final text highlighted the need to improve ‘our ability to respond to the systemic challenge that China poses to our security, prosperity and values – and those of our allies and partners’.
It went on: ‘We will continue to pursue a positive trade and investment relationship with China, while ensuring our national security and values are protected.’
The revelation will raise fears a new version of the Integrated Review, which is currently being prepared by officials, could pull its punches on China.
In a pointed intervention this month, Miss Truss said it was time to stop ‘rolling out the red carpet’ for the Chinese government and that the world was ‘in danger’ from the growing menace posed by authoritarian regimes led by Beijing.
She said: ‘Some people say standing up to this regime is a hopeless task, that somehow the rise of a totalitarian China is inevitable. But I reject this fatalism, and the free world has a significant role to play in whether or not that happens – and how it happens.’
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