Britain to Put Commerce With China First in President Xi Jinping’s State Visit
By JANE PERLEZ
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/18/world/asia/britain-to-put-commerce-with-china-first-in-president-xi-jinpings-state-visit.html?_r=0
BEIJING — The British chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, chose an unusual destination during a trip to China last month, flying to the restive region of Xinjiang, where human rights groups accuse Beijing of persecuting the minority Uighur population.
Preparing for a state visit to Britain by President Xi Jinping of China, who is to arrive Monday, Mr. Osborne was hoping to secure contracts for British construction companies in an ambitious project under which Xinjiang is to become a gateway for roads, rails and pipelines linking China to Europe through Central Asia.
“Let’s stick together to make Britain China’s best partner in the West,” Mr. Osborne said in effusive language that American officials would be unlikely to use with China.
Mr. Osborne’s trip highlighted the British government’s emphasis on economic ties with China rather than on contentious issues such as human rights — a stance that has been warmly welcomed in China. Mr. Xi’s visit, which will include a stay at Buckingham Palace and a ride in a royal horse-drawn carriage, has been heralded in the Chinese state-run news media as opening a “golden era” between the two countries. It will be the first state visit to Britain by a Chinese leader in a decade.
A vice foreign minister, Wang Chao, said last week that “enormous” deals would be signed during Mr. Xi’s visit, which runs through Friday. Among the expected deals is a Chinese investment in a long-delayed nuclear power station in Britain. British officials have said that such a deal could pave the way for Chinese investment in another nuclear plant that would be designed and constructed by a Chinese state-owned enterprise. So far, there are no publicly known British deals in Xinjiang.
Chinese companies already own stakes in British infrastructure — including two airports, Heathrow in London and another in Manchester — and in North Sea oil projects. Huawei Technologies, the Chinese telecom company, which is barred from operations in the United States on security grounds, supplies equipment to British telecommunications networks. A British board established to monitor the company’s operations has declared that it poses no threat to national security.
“Obviously, George Osborne has decided that getting the Chinese to invest large amounts in the U.K. is the salvation of the U.K. economy,” said Ian Bond, the director of foreign policy of the Center for European Reform. “He is running roughshod over the Foreign Office and security policy.”
Britain, a close ally of the United States, was the first Western country to apply for membership this year in China’s new Asian Infrastructure and Investment Bank, despite Washington’s opposition.
The Chinese government appreciates the British government’s decision to put business ahead of much else, said Song Xinning, a professor of international relations at Renmin University. “The British have not only the brain for business, but also the wisdom on strategy,” Dr. Song said, reflecting the Chinese government’s view. “Britain is now the second-largest trading partner for China in the European Union, and it used to be No. 4.”
Advertisement
Continue reading the main story
Advertisement
Continue reading the main story
The British prime minister, David Cameron, met with the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, in London in 2012, a move that angered the Chinese.
Continue reading the main story
Today’s Headlines: Asia Edition
Get news and analysis from Asia and around the world delivered to your inbox every day in the Asian morning.
Since then, Mr. Cameron has not seen the Dalai Lama and has essentially handed the China portfolio to Mr. Osborne, whose focus is finance and investment.
One focus of Mr. Osborne’s efforts has been to put London on track to become a major trading center for the Chinese currency, the renminbi. Branches of Chinese banks have been allowed to open in Britain. And the People’s Bank of China will soon issue short-term renminbi bonds in London, the first time they will be issued outside China, Mr. Osborne said in a speech at the Shanghai stock exchange last month.
The British government has been criticized by many for putting commercial interests ahead of other concerns, including cybersecurity and China’s growing territorial ambitions, as well as human rights.
In an awkward twist before Mr. Xi’s visit, one of the few surviving copies of the 13th century Magna Carta, a document that outlines guarantees for individual rights, was not put on display at Renmin University in Beijing as scheduled last week. The document, which may have appeared too politically explosive, was transferred to a small room at the British Embassy for what the Foreign Office called “administrative” reasons.
The design of the nuclear plant that the Chinese are poised to invest in has drawn criticism, and the continued involvement of China in nuclear power in Britain has raised questions about national security.
The plant, known as Hinkley Point C, to be built in Somerset, England, has been designed by a French company that has had problems making that design work, said Isabel Hilton, the editor of Chinadialogue, a bilingual website based in London. Two state-owned Chinese companies, China General Nuclear Corporation and China National Nuclear Corporation, are expected to reach an agreement to take a 30 percent to 40 percent stake in the plant, British officials have said.
“The bait for the Chinese, according to the U.K. government, is the promise that they will be allowed to build and operate a further plant in Essex,” Ms. Hilton said. “This puts a Chinese state-owned enterprise in the U.K.’s critical infrastructure, a radical move that certainly merits a public debate on the grounds of national security.”
中国の国家主席訪英にかこつけて、なぜかニューヨークタイムズに遠い英国の国旗が映りました。
これは異常事態です。
アメリカ的には、
”ロンドンに中国人が提灯をぶら下げている”、だから何ですか？
かな？
途中からイギリスのニュースになっているみたいだったので、後半は省略しました。
With Xi visit last month,it is flying to where human rights groups for a state visit.
who is to arrive Monday in an ambitious project for roads,rails and pipelines linking Europe through American.
It would be unlikely to use Mr. Osborne’s trip with issues Mr. Xi’s visit which will include a stay at Buckingham Palace and a ride in a royal horse-drawn carriage, has been heralded in the Chinese state-run news media as opening a “golden era” between the two countries.
It will be the leader in a decade.
Last week it would be signed Friday.
Among the expected deals is a Chinese investment in a long.
It could pave the way for Chinese investment, that would be owned publicly own stakes including two airports, Heathrow in London and another in Manchester — and in North Sea oil projects. Huawei Technologies, the Chinese telecom company, which is barred from operations in the United States on security grounds, supplies equipment to British telecommunications networks.
It poses no threat to national security.
