United Kingdom

All news and posts of our editorial team on the topic

British Parliament closes Tiktok account
The British Parliament has closed its TikTok account over privacy concerns. MPs feared that TikTok’s Chinese parent company could pass on data to the government in Beijing. MPs had previously written to the speakers of the House of Commons and House of Lords.According to Sky News, a Tory MP explained that managers at TikTok could […] continue reading →
MI5 and FBI warn of threat from Beijing
Security agencies in the United Kingdom and the United States have issued a joint warning of an increasing threat from the People’s Republic. FBI Director Christopher Wray warned that China poses the greatest threat to the economic and national security. The Communist Party would not only engage in industrial espionage and intellectual property theft at […] continue reading →
Acquisition of British graphene producer off the table
Chinese investors have abandoned acquisition plans for graphene manufacturer Perpetuus Group following a security review by the British government. “The proposed acquisition has been abandoned,” UK Business and Energy Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng wrote on Twitter. “The UK Government monitors the market at all times to identify acquisitions of potential national security interest. We will intervene […] continue reading →
London withdraws British judges from Hong Kong
In a surprise move, the UK is withdrawing its judges from Hong Kong’s Supreme Court over the National Security Act. “We have seen a systematic erosion of liberty and democracy in Hong Kong,” British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said in London on Wednesday, explaining the decision. Since the introduction of the Security Act, freedom of […] continue reading →
Lee case in the UK: ‘Only the tip of the iceberg’
For years, the lawyer Christine Lee made generous donations to British political parties and parliamentarians. Now MI5 is warning politicians about her activities. For the first time, the intelligence service identifies the United Front as a threat to national security. The UK apparently wants to push back Chinese influence. continue reading →
Beer calls for complete boycott of Winter Games
More and more countries are joining the US in its diplomatic boycott of the Winter Olympics in Beijing. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced in the London House of Commons on Wednesday that no minister from his government would travel to China for the event. This would “effectively” mean a diplomatic boycott, he declared during […] continue reading →
Hong Kong bans entry from UK over virus variant
Due to the rapid spread of the delta variant of the coronavirus, flights from the UK will no longer be allowed to land in Hong Kong from Thursday. The UK is classified as an “extreme high-risk country“, the Hong Kong government announced on Monday. Passenger planes will no longer be allowed to fly to the […] continue reading →
Britain: Nuclear project without China
Die britische Regierung will offenbar den chinesischen Staatskonzern CGN aus dem geplanten Neubau eines Atomkraftwerks in Sizewell im ostenglischen Suffolk herausdrängen. Möglicherweise werde die Regierung bereits im Oktober bekannt geben, dass sie sich zusammen mit dem französischen Atomkonzern EDF an dem Bau des Reaktors Sizewell C beteilige, berichtet die britische Zeitung The Guardian. Damit würde […] continue reading →
UK reviews acquisition of graphene producer
The UK has ordered a review of the takeover of a graphene manufacturer by a Chinese academic. UK Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng has ordered the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to investigate the proposed takeover of the small Perpetuus Group by Taurus International or other companies with ties to Chinese academic Zhongfu Zhou, The Guardian […] continue reading →
China beats EU on UK universities
For the first time after Brexit, UK universities have more prospective students from China than from the EU. The number of applicants from the EU dropped by 43 percent to 28,400, according to the British university admissions service UCAS. This compares with 28,490 applications from China. The number of applicants from the People’s Republic had […] continue reading →
UK plans to exclude CGN from future projects
According to media reports, the UK is seeking ways to exclude China’s state-owned nuclear energy company China General Nuclear Power Group (CGN) from all future power projects in the country. Reuters and the Financial Times reported on this, citing people close to planning procedures. Should the UK go through with their plan, it would impact […] continue reading →
China now the largest owner of foreign soil
Chinese companies have purchased or leased nearly 6,5 million hectares of land in third countries over the past decade. This puts them far ahead of companies from the UK (1,5 million hectares), the US (860,000 hectares) and Japan (420,000 hectares), according to an analysis by Nikkei Asia based on data provided by the Land Matrix […] continue reading →
British MPs call for absence from Olympic Games
British MPs have called on their government to not attend the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. London should also encourage other governments to stay absent from the Olympic Games, according to a report by the British parliament’s foreign affairs committee published on Thursday. “The government shall propose that the British Olympic Association should not attend […] continue reading →
Authorities tighten political control in Hong Kong
Just over a week before the anniversary of the suppression of the Tiananmen demonstrations, the state in Hong Kong is tightening control. Vigils for the victims are banned. Yet there would be plenty of reason for protests: With a highly controversial electoral law reform, the alignment of the systems is making further progress – and increasing the flight of politically interested residents of the city to the UK. continue reading →
For the first time, China exports more to the UK than Germany
In the wake of Brexit and the Covid pandemic, China has moved ahead of Germany as Britain’s biggest import market. Overall, exports from Germany to Britain fell by 11.8 percent in the first quarter of this year compared with the same period three years ago, the UK statistics office said on Wednesday. Accordingly, the goods […] continue reading →
London cuts development aid to China by 95 percent
Britain has announced a massive cut in its aid budget for programs in China. The British Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office plans to cut its financial support for programs in the People’s Republic by 95 percent, according to a written parliamentary statement by Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab announcing Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) for 2021 and […] continue reading →
Asylum for Nathan Law in the UK
Hong Kong activist and former opposition MP Nathan Law has been granted political asylum in the UK. After four months, his application has been approved, the 27-year-old wrote on Twitter. “The UK has a proud history of providing protection to those who need it,” British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab wrote on the announcement of Law’s […] continue reading →
China’s EU ambassador warns against sanctions over Xinjiang
China’s EU ambassador Zhang Ming has compared camps in western China’s Xinjiang province with supposedly similar facilities in Europe and the US. “Countries like the US, Britain, and France have set up deradicalization centers or correction centers. China’s measures are not entirely different,” Zhang said yesterday about camps for the Uyghur Muslim minority at an […] continue reading →