- Sunak defends UK’s China stance as stronger than EU’s
- Government refutes accusations of inaction against China
- Cyberattacks attributed to China prompt UK sanctions and denials
According to the prime minister, it is “completely and utterly false” to assert that the government feared taking strong action against China.
Rishi Sunak has asserted that the United Kingdom’s stance towards China is “more robust” than its allies, despite ongoing pressures to employ more belligerent language about Beijing following two cyberattacks.
Suggestions that the government was not taking decisive action against China were “completely and utterly false,” according to the prime minister.
Mr Sunak defended the government’s posture towards China on Tuesday afternoon during his appearance before the Liaison Committee, where the chairs of the select committees of parliament questioned him.
Chair of the Business and Trade Committee Liam Byrne argued against Mr Sunak that while allies took action regarding China, the United Kingdom was merely “considering it.”
However, Mr Sunak refuted this claim: “Our approach to China is undeniably more robust than, in fact, the vast majority of our allies.”
I am certain that our strategy for mitigating the threat posed by China is largely consistent with that of our allies and, in most instances, even exceeds their protective measures.
Mr Sunak appeared before the committee after the government attributed two “malicious” cyberattack campaigns in the United Kingdom to “state-affiliated actors” from China.
Two occurrences
Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden disclosed in a speech to the House of Commons that the two incidents included an assault on the Electoral Commission in 2021, which is tasked with the oversight of political finance and elections, as well as targeted attacks against Members of Parliament who are sceptical of China.
As per the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) findings, the Electoral Roll, comprising the contact information for tens of millions of electors, was compromised during the incident at the commission in 2022.
Nevertheless, “reconnaissance activity” that targeted the accounts of former Conservative education minister Tim Loughton, crossbench peer Lord Alton of Liverpool, and SNP MP Stewart McDonald in 2021 was ineffective.
The government has stated that the “China state-affiliated” group APT31 was responsible for the assault on parliamentarians; however, the identity of the perpetrator of the attack on the commission remains unknown.
It is “highly probable compromised by a China state-affiliated cyber entity,” according to the NCSC.
“As an elephant would deliver a mouse.”
Sanctions were recently levied against Wuhan Xiaoruizhi Science and Technology Company, a front organisation, and two individuals affiliated with APT31, namely Ni Gaobin and Zhao Guangzong, as disclosed by Mr Dowden.
Sir Iain, a Conservative member of parliament, reacted angrily to the reply, comparing Mr Dowden’s statement to an elephant delivering a rodent.
Mr Dowden speculated that an upgrade in the United Kingdom’s assessment of China from an “epoch-defining challenge” to a “threat” was imminent, and members of parliament from Mr Sunak’s party have urged him to do so.
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During the Liaison Committee meeting, the prime minister emphasised that while European allies had not removed Huawei equipment from their telecommunications networks, the United Kingdom had. Furthermore, he stated that the European Union had not imposed any export restrictions on sensitive technology to China.
Additionally, he posited that the United Kingdom’s trade reliance on China was comparatively lower than that of Australia, Korea, Japan, the United States, and Germany. Moreover, he asserted that a security agency existed with the specific purpose of assisting corporations in mitigating risks posed by states, encompassing espionage and intellectual property threats.
China refutes
China has angrily denied accountability for the assaults and levied allegations of “blatant political manipulation” against the United Kingdom.
According to a spokesman, the United Kingdom “erroneously accused China of attempting to meddle in British democracy.”
We implore the United Kingdom to cease immediately disseminating false information about China, to cease staging such self-inflicted anti-China farces, and to abstain from continuing down this futile path.
Sunak insists on party unity, dismisses Westminster politics
