Fury as Reynolds prepares to travel to China for trade talks

FURY erupted yesterday after it emerged Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds is to lead a trade mission to China.

- By Jonathan Walker Whitehall Editor

Former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith insisted the country should be treated “as a threat” as the plan was criticised.

The Department for Business and Trade had confirmed plans to convene a meeting of the UK-China Joint Economic and Trade Commission. The last such meeting was held in Beijing in 2018.

It comes despite Mr Reynolds's comments on Sunday that previous governments had been “far too naive” in allowing Chinese firms to play a key role in “very sensitive” industries, such as steel.

Sir Iain, one of Beijing’s staunch-est critics in the UK, said: “Is this country that we are dealing with capable of being dealt with on a proper and fair basis?

“The answer to that is categorically no, in China’s case.

“China is a threat militarily. It’s a threat economically. It trashes the WTO rules by saying that it’s a developing nation. Therefore, it doesn’t obey them. It means it subsidises their businesses so that they can come in much cheaper than any other commercial company.”