Philip Hammond has redoubled Britain’s pursuit of economic ties with China, hailing the “truly epic ambition” of the Belt and Road Initiative and suggesting the UK could scale back its criticism of Chinese expansion in the South China Sea.
On a visit to Beijing, the UK chancellor of the exchequer praised China’s showpiece infrastructure programme — which Britain and many other countries seek to profit from.
His comments about Belt and Road, which many analysts see as a bid to extend Beijing’s influence across the world, came days after ministers opened up Britain’s 5G data network to Huawei, the Chinese telecoms group, despite security concerns highlighted by the US.