New Delhi: China is becoming a threat to the world. Due to its expansionist policy, many countries of the world now consider China as a serious problem. Britain’s parliamentary panel has also warned in its report that China is becoming a threat to national security. It has been said in the report that China is continuously targeting the UK because our government does not have a proper strategy.
Accusing the UK government of “failing to recognize the relevant issues”, the report said China has entered “every sector” of the UK economy. UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said the government has taken measures to prevent interference by reducing Britain’s reliance on Chinese technology, but he wants to have an “open” and “constructive” relationship with China.
China’s size, ambition and capacity have enabled it to successfully penetrate every sector of the UK economy,” said the report, which was critical of the Conservative government. It added that the level of dedicated resources is “grossly inadequate” to deal with the threat of China’s “whole-state” approach. The report further said that the nature of China’s involvement, influence and interference activity may be difficult to ascertain.
What is even more worrying, according to the report, is that the government might not have been looking for it in the first place. The intelligence agencies’ focus on covert Chinese activity meant that they were not even aware that they had any responsibility to counter Chinese interference activity in the UK. The report takes a critical look at China’s alleged interference in UK education, its targeting of industry and technology, investment deals linked to China and its alleged involvement in Britain’s critical national infrastructure.
The report says that Chinese investment in the UK has gone out of control. The government has shown little interest in academia’s warnings about China’s abuse of fees and funding, influence on UK academics through coercion and intimidation, and the monitoring and control of Chinese students. Some educational institutions are turning a blind eye and are happy to take only money.
