Treasury minister Jim O’Neill threatened to quit over Theresa May’s handling of China’s involvement in the Hinkley Point nuclear power plant project, as China’s news agency questioned whether Britain was truly open for business post-Brexit.
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Britain will continue to seek a strong relationship with China, a spokeswoman for Prime Minister Theresa May said on Monday following the decision last week to delay approval of a partly Chinese-funded nuclear reactor project.
May’s predecessor David Cameron promoted the £18 billion project by French energy company EDF with financial backing from China General Nuclear Power Corporation (CGN) as a sign of Britain’s openness to foreign investment.
Its official Xinhua news agency has said the country will not tolerate “unwanted accusations” about its investments in Britain, a country that can not risk driving away other Chinese investors as it looks for post-Brexit trade deals. The plant is due to provide around 7 percent of Britain’s electricity.
The ex-energy secretary Ed Davey has also said former chancellor George Osborne blocked moves meant to provide extra protection for the Hinkley Point project from potential national security threats posed by China.
While China understood and respected Britain’s requirement for more time to think about the deal, China would not tolerate “unwanted accusations” about its investments in Britain, a country that can not risk driving away other Chinese investors as it looks for post-Brexit trade deals.
But Mrs May’s official spokeswoman said: “Of course with the role that China has to play on world affairs, on the global economy, on a whole range of worldwide issues, we are going to continue to seek a strong relationship with China”.
“However, what China can not understand is the “suspicious approach” that comes from nowhere to Chinese investment in making the postponement,” said an English-language commentary broadcast on Xinhua.
“For starters, for a kingdom striving to pull itself out of the Brexit aftermath, openness is the key way out”.
Beijing is ready to wait for a “rational British government” to make “responsible decisions”, but will not tolerate “any unwanted accusation against its honest and benign willingness for win-win cooperation”, Xinhua said. After all, the hard-won momentum in China-UK relations can not be wasted, and the golden era can not afford to be delayed. The government announced China’s involvement a year ago during a state visit by President Xi Jinping to Britain.
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A broad commercial agreement on Hinkley Point nuclear plant project between Britain and EDF was first reached in in 2013.
