British Conservative politicians use coronavirus to get tougher on China
- Pressure to reconsider earlier British decisions in favour of Chinese businesses, including Huawei and its 5G technology
- A group of Tories sees Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government as too friendly to Beijing
The coronavirus pandemic has emboldened hardline China critics in Britain’s ruling Conservative Party, in what is an evolving challenge to what some consider an overly Beijing-friendly approach by Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government.
With the help of Tory-friendly media, a group of Conservative politicians has highlighted what they say is China’s mishandling of the crisis, which led to the outbreak in Britain, where Johnson himself developed Covid-19 and spent several nights last week in intensive care.
Whitehall has now come under pressure to possibly reconsider earlier decisions in favour of Chinese businesses, including Huawei Technologies, the leader in next-generation 5G mobile technology, Conservative Party sources say.
Last week, at the height of the prime minister’s illness, the British government had to intervene in an attempt by China Reform Holdings – a US$30 billion Chinese government-controlled venture fund – to seize control of the board of British graphics chip maker Imagination Technologies.
The British government saw this as a hostile political act rather than a commercial move, given the clear links between the venture fund and Beijing authorities, a government source said.