The Chancellor has been warned of the risk of further integration with China. (Image: Getty)
The former head of MI6 has issued a stark warning on the risks of further integration with China following controversial trip there.
Reeves will return from Beijing today following a three-day visit. This visit came at a time when the value of the pound is tumbling, as the cost of borrowing has risen to thirty-year highs due to a sharp rise in bond yields.
, but the government hopes that developing a closer relationship with Beijing will be the catalyst for large-scale investment in British industry.
Sir Richard Dearlove, the former head of MI6, has warned against relying on China to fund Britain’s energy infrastructure, claiming that would ignore advice from the security services in favour of an “ideologically driven” push to reach .
Miliband will visit the country in the coming months to look at ways the two countries can work together to “expand and deepen” their partnerships in renewable energy.
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Miliband’s net zero pledge is underpinned by a reliance on China. (Image: Getty)
The warning comes as the Climate Secretary aims to make the as part of his net zero drive.
Currently, China dominates the market for the technology needed to achieve that ambition, including wind turbines, solar panels, and electric car batteries.
China has also been crucial in funding in Britain. The Times’ analysis found that Chinese businesses have funded or provided parts for at least 14 of the 50 British offshore wind farm projects in operation or late in development.
The analysis also found that companies owned by the Chinese government have large stakes in three projects, which combined produce enough energy to power up to two million homes.
Dearlove believes that allowing China to play such a key role in our future energy infrastructure is a “strategic issue”, with the country able to “reprogram” any of the components without our control.
Dearlove told the Times: “The fact of the matter is every Chinese industry is answerable to the leadership of the Communist party. If the order is ‘jump’, the response has to be ‘how high’, they have no options to say no. That’s the difficulty behind the scenes.
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The former MI6 head believes that China will be ‘delighted’ at weakening Britain’s industrial base. (Image: Getty)
“I’m sure the Chinese are absolutely delighted to contribute to the weakening of our industrial base. We’re rushing to create a zero-carbon economy dependent on renewables which will eventually weaken our economic position.
“The intelligence agencies can advise on insecurity in relation to policies, but it looks to me in this particular case like Ed Miliband would completely disregard and overrule that.”
The energy secretary pledged to accelerate the building of wind farms in England and to install solar panels on the majority of new houses as he pursues his net-zero ambitions.
Miliband has approved three large solar farms in England since coming to office in July, one of which is believed to be linked to a company benefiting from slave labour.
In the last five years, the Chinese state has imposed a region-wide, ethnically targeted program of slave labour upon the Uyghur community, with the production of materials crucial to clean energy being moved to the area to allow China to undercut the rest of the world on price.
Research conducted by found that the Uyghur Region now accounts for approximately 35% of the world’s polysilicon (down from 45%) and as much as 32% of global metallurgical-grade silicon production.