Johnson says China is ‘doing a great job’ (that’s dad Stanley, not Boris)

CHINA stands accused of genocide against the Uyghurs, hiding the origins of the Covid19 pandemic and systematically dismantling human rights in Hong Kong.

But, to Stanley Johnson, China is ‘doing a really great job’ when it comes to the environment at least.

Boris Johnson’s father tells me: ‘Of course, I recognise there are issues and concerns [in dealing with China] that people feel need to be addressed. My position is that not everything needs to be lumped together, do you see?’

The former I’m A Celebrity contestant was speaking after attending an environmental conference in Hancheng, China, yesterday, via video link. Stanley made a speech about the ‘brilliant’ initiative to launch the China World Coastal Forum. He insists the Communist regime has made a ‘major step forward’ in its environmental work.

It marks his return to the political arena, after accusations last November by former Cabinet minister Caroline Nokes and a senior political journalist, Ailbhe Rea, that he had touched them inappropriately. Johnson said he had ‘no recollection’ of Nokes.

Stanley was joined at the conference by his friend Zac Goldsmith (pictured with him),a close chum of Boris’s wife, Carrie. Billionaire’s son Zac was elevated to the peerage and appointed an environment minister by Boris after losing his seat at the last election. Some might be sceptical about China’s environmental credentials after its officials watered down pledges made at COP26 in Glasgow at the last minute. But Johnson says we should ‘applaud’ China, adding: ‘I don’t think any of us can afford to say that we’re not ready to engage with China, even though we’ve got legitimate concerns maybe about Hong Kong, Taiwan and the Uyghurs and so on.’ He adds he’s looking forward to China’s next big environmental conference in November. It will be held in Wuhan, birthplace of Covid.