Government rejects plea to release more detail on China strategy

British businesses, academia and civil society face a “state of uncertainty” when dealing with China after the Government rejected a request to provide more detail on its strategy towards Beijing, MPs warned.

Last August members of the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee urged the Government to release an unclassified version of its China strategy, saying it would ensure “cross-Government coherence” and support “industries of critical national importance” when dealing with China.

But in a response published on Friday, the Government rejected the committee’s request, saying it had “clearly set out its approach to China” in its refresh of foreign, defence, security and development policy last year.

It said: “The Government has set out our approach to China: protecting our national security; aligning with our allies and partners; and engaging with China where it is in UK interests to do so

“The Government does not intend to publish an additional China Strategy and we have not committed to do so.

“We will continue to maintain as much transparency as possible and keep Parliament informed of our approach towards China, while recognising it is not in UK interests to make every element of the strategy public.”

The response comes after leaked documents appeared to show that the Government has secretly softened its policy on Chinese businesses accused of human rights abuses.

On Thursday prominent China hawks across Westminster urged the Government to explain the document and its current stance on Chinese businesses fully.

Committee chairwoman and senior Conservative MP Alicia Kearns criticised the Government’s decision not to provide further detail.

She said: “The Government’s refusal to publish an unclassified China Strategy leaves UK businesses, academia, civil society and even the civil service in a state of uncertainty on how to respond to threats from the Chinese Communist Party.

“Over the past two-and-a-half years the committee has heard repeatedly from experts that the lack of guidance from Government has left them stumbling in the dark.

“Successive UK governments have been naive about the consequences of deepening our ties with China, particularly when it comes to cooperation on technologies and critical national infrastructure. It is now evident that business with China comes with strings attached, even if they are not immediately apparent. “

Ms Kearns added: “Policymakers need to understand the direction of travel when it comes to the UK’s future relationship with China, and UK businesses and public sector organisations need to know exactly where lines have been drawn.”

The Government also rejected a warning from the committee that it had shown a “lack of resolve” in preventing the products of Uighur forced labour from entering the UK by not sanctioning any companies for human rights abuses in their supply chain.

The Foreign Office pointed to the decision in March 2021 to sanction four Chinese officials and one company for involvement in “serious human rights violations in Xinjiang”, adding it continued to work with allies to “hold China to account”.

Ms Kearns said: “While the Government disagrees that it lacks resolve in sanctioning against Uighur forced labour, they have failed to provide evidence that they have sanctioned companies with forced labour in their supply chains.

“The sanctioning of four Chinese officials and one entity, a Chinese security company, three years ago, is completely insufficient.”

With agencies