Confusion and delay still at heart of Labour’s China strategy

We don’t have long to wait before Andy Burnham reveals his Ten-Year Plan. Early reports suggest it will be broken into three themes: growing up, getting on and growing old. I wish I was making that up, but it seems the PM really is putting the finishing touches to a ‘cradle to the grave’ strategy for his citizens. You know who else does this? China. The world’s second largest economy is currently on its 15th Five-Year Plan, meaning Burnham will need to plot another 65 years if he wants to demonstrate similar foresight.

But how much attention is he paying to China? According to a damning new report from MPs , the government is “making up its China policy as it goes along.” When Keir Starmer entered Downing Street, he promised to conduct a pan-Whitehall audit of the UK’s relations with and policies towards China. As MPs on the Business Committee note in their new report, that audit was never published. Ministers cite national security concerns, and of course if the audit really was comprehensive then it stands to reason that much of its findings would be classified, but in refusing to articulate the broad conclusions of the review the government’s China policy now amounts to “opportunities missed, risks unmanaged and decisions left until the eleventh hour.”

Web of competing Whitehall interests One of the main criticisms is that China policy continues to be driven by a web of competing interests across government. In the words of Ben Judah, who served as an adviser to former foreign secretary David Lammy, “each department will only see Beijing through its mission lens, from more investment for the Treasury to more students for education.” This confusion extends to the guidance given to the private sector.

Industry lobbyists at techUK told MPs that “If you speak to the national security establishment, [they say] “No business with China,” but [Department for Business] is hosting a webinar on market opportunities in China.” Earlier this year another group of MPs, the Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy, urged ministers to share the findings of the China audit with parliamentarians and industry. They argued that failing to do so risked eroding public trust in the government’s national security agenda.

MPs on the Business Committee are calling for greater clarity on how and where business should – or should not – be engaging with China. In the absence of such a robust framework, they conclude that “the government has prioritised diplomatic politeness over the UK’s national security.”