‘Standing up to threat can boost trade, not kill it’
TRADE with China could actually increase if Britain takes a stronger stance against Beijing, a leading critic has warned.
Conservative MP Tim Loughton said the only time trade has fallen was during the socalled “golden era” of relations between London and Beijing.
And he urged officials within the Government to consider the threats posed by the Chinese Communist Party.
Threat
And not just focus on the economic benefits of trade between the two nations.
Mr Loughton, along with former Tory Party leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith, said the UK must deal with China as “it really is, not as we hoped it would become”.
He said: “This threat about the impact it will have on a country’s trade if they dare to stand up and call out China’s abuses is a fiction. Every country that has done that has seen, subsequently, an increase in its trade with China. The only time we saw a downturn in trade with China in the UK was about eight or nine years ago, in the midst of the golden era.”
Mr Loughton was referencing a time when Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron was PM.
And Sir Iain added: “There has been a change in tone from the Government since David Cameron has arrived.
“Whether that is him trying to overcompensate for being the architect, along with George Osborne, of the golden era, I don’t know.”
Mr Loughton added that many MPs were more concerned by the risks posed by Beijing than the potential economic opportunities.
Trade between the UK and China was valued at just over £100billion in 2023, making it our fifth largest trading partner.