Ex-Trump adviser: US ‘on alert’ over Chinese takeover of British Steel

A FORMER senior adviser to US President Donald Trump is warning the UK Government against allowing a Chinese industrial giant to take control of British Steel.

Retired Air Force Brigadier General Robert Spalding, a former US defence attache to China, has suggested Washington will be closely monitoring the proposed deal and the extent to which the UK may be coming under the ‘sphere of influence’ of Beijing.

The Government last week agreed a deal in principle to sell British Steel to Chinese industrial conglomerate Jingye for about £50 million. The transaction is expected to be completed in the New Year.

British Steel collapsed into administration in May and the Government has been keeping it operational – at a cost of more than £1million a day, according to industry sources – while the Insolvency Service attempts to secure a rescue deal to save 4,000 jobs.

The Mail on Sunday revealed two weeks ago that Jingye was in pole position to buy the company ahead of British industrial group Liberty and the Turkish military pension fund Ataer, which had previously come close to securing a deal. The news sparked national security concerns in the UK.

Last night, Spalding – who recently published a book entitled Stealth War: How China Took Over While America’s Elite Slept – expressed severe reservations about the deal, which he fears could result in the Chinese regime attempting to influence UK politics.

Jingye, led by low-key businessman Li Ganpo, is not owned by the State, but Spalding and other critics of Beijing believe that no Chinese firm is independent of the nation’s government. Spalding fears China could use the British

Steel takeover to seize British technology and steel capabilities. ‘You have to worry about that,’ he told The Mail on Sunday.

‘Of course, [the takeover] looks very attractive in the UK because it provides jobs.

‘But quite frankly it gives them influence over the political system within the UK because now you have a bunch of constituents that are essentially [Jingye’s] employees.’ Spalding also warned that his former colleagues within the US Department of Defense would almost certainly be closely monitoring the situation. I would imagine the Department of Defense is aware of it because they’re tracking stuff like this now,’ he said.

‘They would be thinking exactly the way I’m thinking. What are the implications for US and British national security, and the security of the alliance? And how does this further slide the UK into the Chinese sphere of influence?’

He added: ‘If the business environment for making steel in Britain is so poor that a company can’t exist in its current format and no one’s willing to invest, I have to question for what reason does it make sense that the Chinese are coming in to do it? What are they trying to do here?’

He said the conclusion had to be that the investment was not being made for market-based reasons.

‘They’re making it for strategic reasons,’ he said. ‘And what are the strategic reasons that the Chinese Communist Party has for taking over British Steel?

‘There could be many. Owning the supply chain for steel. Getting out from under the tariffs that are being imposed on China.’

A source close to the deal dismissed Spalding’s concerns, pointing out that the Government sees Jingye as a credible candidate to buy British Steel.