Astra boss: UK must stay close to China
THE boss of drugs giant AstraZeneca is urging Boris Johnson’s government to find a way of collaborating with China amid increasing political pressure at home and from the US to loosen links.
Relations between the UK and China have been severely strained by Beijing’s decision to impose a new tough security law on Hong Kong, which has triggered protests and prompted hundreds of arrests.
Last month, the American Secretary of State accused the British bank HSBC of ‘kowtowing’ to China after its top banker in Hong Kong Peter Wong went on social media to support the proposed clampdown.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, AstraZeneca chief executive Pascal Soriot said: ‘For the UK, there is a great opportunity – not being part of a trading bloc – for collaborating with China. Post-Brexit collaborating with China is important.’
The intervention comes at a critical juncture. The Government is under pressure to pull back from close relations to Beijing in the wake of the pandemic. And China’s interference with Hong Kong has prompted the PM to offer around 3m Hong Kongers the right to live in the UK – a move which has angered Beijing.
AstraZeneca is among a number of British companies which have deepened commercial relations with China over recent years. AstraZeneca, which is the FTSE 100’s top company with a stock market value of £110bn, last year earned 20pc of its revenue in China where it has supply and distribution networks.
The main target of critics of UKChina policy is the decision taken before the pandemic to allow the telecoms giant Huawei a serious role in building the 5G mobile telecoms network, although the Government is now threatening to ban its involvement.
Soriot said he hoped that instead of souring relations, the pandemic could ‘be a chance for the world to come together. I think as we move along that collaboration is a better way than confrontation.’
He pointed out that at the onset of the pandemic AstraZeneca – which is leading the fight to develop a vaccine for Covid-19 – decided it was best to work with China in understanding the disease.
‘One of the things we did when this crisis emerged was to set up a webcast every Saturday for physicians from China sharing their clinical experience with physicians from the US, Europe and everywhere.’ Around 40,000 doctors had participated and it was a great ‘opportunity for them to talk to each other.’ Soriot expressed his hope that governments can do the same.
The AZ chief pledged himself ready to help in bringing the UK, China and the US closer together. ‘We will do our very best to help on that front,’ he said.