Lords committee warns of ‘void’ in policy towards China

Attempts by the Government to “have its cake and eat it” when dealing with China have left a “strategic void” in Britain’s foreign policy, a House of Lords committee has warned.

In a report published on Friday, the Lords International Relations and Defence Committee said there was “no clear sense of what the current Government’s strategy towards China is, or what values and interests it is trying to uphold in the UK-China relationship”.

Despite other parliamentary inquiries calling for the Government to set out a coherent China policy, the committee said it was “disappointing” that ministers had so far failed to do this and criticised an “ambiguity” in descriptions of the country as both an important partner and a “systematic competitor” in its Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy published in March.

The committee was also “startled” that the Integrated Review failed to mention Taiwan at all, noting “tensions over the status and future of Taiwan could have severe consequences for the US-China relationship that could reverberate here in the UK”.

While noting that it was important to co-operate with China on climate change and avoid a “trade war”, the committee said there was no clear strategy for reconciling these needs with attempts to uphold the UK’s values on human rights.

Baroness Anelay, the former Foreign Office minister who chairs the committee, said: “In an atmosphere of growing tensions between the UK and China, the distinct lack of any clear position from the Government on China has become increasingly concerning.

“Throughout this inquiry we heard evidence of a ‘have its cake and eat it’ approach in the Government’s relationship with China and the evidence we heard from ministers did nothing to convince us this was not the case.

“Previous parliamentary calls for the Government to produce a China strategy have so far been ignored. Although the Government maintains that it has made its approach to China clear in public statements and in the Integrated Review, we do not consider these vague statements, and those made to us during this inquiry, as constituting a strategy.”

Calling for a more detailed, coherent strategy, the committee said the Government needed to lay out how it would make decisions on China when economic considerations clashed with the UK’s values, including on human rights and labour protection.

The committee also warned that the cut to the aid budget risked creating a void in the region that could be exploited by China and that the UK needed to cooperate with other nations as a counterbalance to China.

Lady Anelay added: “The Government must heed our call and follow the recommendations made in this report to formulate the priorities and focus for a definitive China strategy, and rectify the current void created by its absence.”