Five Eyes in ‘feverish’ talks to combat China threat

‘Panicked’ Western allies to step up focus on security of communications and critical infrastructure

THE Government is said to be in talks to resurrect the Five Eyes “Critical 5” group to tackle supply dependency on China.

It is understood that “feverish discussions” are in place for the body, which focuses on critical infrastructure such as communications and energy, to sit after a hiatus of five years.

The Critical 5 was created in 2012 as part of the Five Eyes intelligence alliance between the UK, US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand

A source told The Daily Telegraph: “Clearly, everyone is panicked. They haven’t met for five years but fears over supplies and our ability to secure ourselves have grown so great that the governments are resurrecting this historic body in order to tackle security together.

“Many in the Government with long memories remember the early work of the Critical 5 and see it as an ovenready structure to address this challenge on a multilateral basis.”

The group defined critical infrastructure “as the systems, assets, facilities and networks that provide essential services and are necessary for the national security, economic security, prosperity, and health and safety of their respective nations”.

However, it is thought that the members have not sat since 2015 because they could not all agree on the six sectors they determined to be “critical infrastructure”.

The sectors they did agree on as critical were communications, energy, healthcare and public health, transportation systems and water.

Sir Iain Duncan Smith, the former Conservative party leader, said resurrecting the group was “the right thing to do”, but cautioned that it was “long overdue”. He added: “It should have been sitting the whole time, it should have never stopped sitting in the first place, it should have been constantly on the game.”

Sam Armstrong, the communications director for the Henry Jackson Society, a foreign policy think tank, said: “Given how strategically dependent the UK has found itself to be on China, it is welcome that we are now working with our closest allies to unpick the worst excesses of this potential threat.

“Tackling a challenge as complex as China’s artificial dominance of great swathes of the world economy can’t be fixed without finally turning to our allies for help.”

Five Eyes is considering expanding its membership to Japan.

Such a move would see it strengthen into a strategic economic relationship that brings together critical mineral and medical supplies.

It is understood that “advanced discussions” are under way about a new shared minerals security plan within

‘Everyone is panicked. Fears over supplies and our ability to secure ourselves have grown great’

Five Eyes, due to the gargantuan amount of rare and semi-rare minerals that are sourced from China, such as magnesium, which is used in products such as laptops and cameras, of which China is the leading producer.

“There is a concern that, much like it did with Japan previously, it could threaten to cut off the supply of these goods … which has the potential to cause a security risk,” the source told The Telegraph.

Tom Tugendhat, the chairman of the foreign affairs select committee, has welcomed the prospect of Japan becoming the sixth member of Five Eyes.

He said it was right that the group “should look at partners we can trust to deepen our alliances”.

“Japan is an important strategic partner for many reasons and we should be looking at every opportunity to cooperate more closely,” he added.