Promise of Chinese funding can never trump our security

‘When it comes to China, the PM must navigate a tightrope act’

- Duncan Barkes

HONEST: MI5 chief Sir Ken McCallum did not mince his words on spying last week

THE warning signs have been there for years. Anyone with an interest in ensuring the security of the country can see China is no real friend of the UK. Despite this, we have a Labour Government tying itself in knots by trying not to offend this threatening global superpower — because it remains desperate to ensure great dollops of Chinese cash continue to come into the UK to perk up our ailing economy.

Of course we need a decent relationship with China, but not to the detriment of our national security. Their hostility towards the UK is plain, given how China has treated politicians who dare to criticise its regime.

Former Conservative leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith, along with past and current Tory MPs Nusrat Ghani, Tom Tugendhat, Neil O’Brien and Tim Loughton, have all been banned from entering China, Hong Kong and Macao.

And it’s not just Tory critics, either. Earlier this year, Liberal Democrat MP Wera Hobhouse was barred from entering Hong Kong to visit her grandson.