Select committee: International Relations and Defence Committee

Conclusion 29

1st Report - The UK and China's security and trade relationship: A strategic void Published 10 Sep 2021 Paragraph 179

International Relations and Defence Committee The UK’s security and trade relationship with China All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗

Conclusion (the committee's words)

Not all EU states share the US’s assessment of threats posed by China. This seems to have influenced the common EU approach towards China, where economic interests appear to take priority over security concerns. Nevertheless, recent tensions between the EU and China mean that at the time of writing this report it seems unlikely that the EU-China Comprehensive Agreement on Investment will be approved by the European Parliament. We note that the European Parliament has made progress on the Agreement conditional on lifting the sanctions on members of its Parliament.

From: International Relations and Defence Committee, 1st Report - The UK and China's security and trade relationship: A strategic void, paragraph 179, 10 September 2021

Government response

Letter from Minister Milling to Baroness Anelay, on the Committee’s follow-up letter to the Government’s response to the UK-China report, 9 February 2022

The government responded to the whole report on 22 February 2022 (deadline 17 November 2021).

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Government Response to the Committee's The UK's Security and Trade Relationship with China report

Published 23 November 2021.

Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.

The government responds to the Committee's report by restating the approach set out in the Integrated Review, describing China as a "systemic competitor" and setting out how it will engage, trade and protect its security, without committing to the single China strategy the Committee called for.

On the call for a single China strategy, the government points to the Integrated Review and says the National Security Council "continues to provide clear direction". It says it will not publish information that could harm national security.
On China expertise, it says it "will continue to invest in China capability in line with the Integrated Review" and notes an additional £3million dedicated in 2020/21.
On trade, it says it is in the national interest to trade with China but "important we avoid strategic dependency". It says the National Security and Investment Act is "country agnostic" and will come into full force on 4 January 2022.
On the Indo-Pacific, it describes HMS Tamar and HMS Spey as "permanently stationed in the region", to be joined by a Littoral Response Group from 2023 and Type 31 frigates by the end of the decade.

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