Britain sees China as the biggest threat to economic security

British Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden said China posed the “biggest state threat” to Britain’s economic security.

Under the Investment and National Security Act, the UK government has the power to prevent or remedy investments that are deemed to pose a risk to national security. Within the scope of this authority, initiatives by Chinese companies were mostly interfered with in business takeover transactions due to national security in the UK last year.

Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden said the decisions were independent of the country, but that they were the right decisions for UK national security. Dowden also said that while he believes the decisions are correct, he doesn’t want ties with China to be completely severed.

“I am very clear that I do not want us to leave China, I do not think it is in the best interest of us,” Dowden said in a statement. But at the same time, just like the Chinese, we must have clear views on protecting our national security,” she said.

8 OF 15 AGREEMENTS ARE CHINESE COMPANIES

According to information in a report, last year there were 866 notifications about possible infringements in areas such as defense, energy, advanced materials and communications, with 42 percent from China, 32 percent from the UK and 20 percent from related buyers. with the United States. State. .

While most of the agreements were ratified, 15 agreements were blocked, relaxed, or conditions were imposed to protect national security. Of the 15 deals, 8 were from China, 4 from the UK and 3 from US-related buyers.

When asked why the Chinese deals were disproportionately targeted, Dowden cited the first reason as China being a big investor globally. Dowden said the second reason is that China represents the biggest state threat to economic security.

Dowden stated that they don’t want to completely cut off from China even though China poses a threat, saying, “Yet at the same time, we can’t find ourselves in a situation where we’re completely disconnected from an economy like China, it’s not of our national interest in terms of employment and well-being”.