China has threatened to cut investments in the UK if Sir Keir Starmer blocks plans for a giant wind turbine factory in Scotland.
In a major escalation in tensions between Beijing and London, China has accused ministers of meddling in plans drawn up by one of its largest infrastructure companies to build a £1.5bn turbine factory near Inverness.
The proposal from Ming Yang Smart Energy has triggered significant national security fears amid fears that the turbines could be used for spying by Beijing. MPs have also raised concerns about depending on a Chinese company for energy security.
Asked about Ming Yang’s factory on Thursday, a spokesman for Beijing suggested that Chinese companies could scrap future investments in Britain if Sir Keir Starmer’s government delayed the project any further.
“In recent years, normal economic and trade projects in the UK have frequently been subjected to politicisation and overreach in the name of national security,” said Guo Jiakun, a foreign ministry spokesman.
“If this trend continues unchecked, it will seriously affect Chinese enterprises’ assessment of the UK’s investment environment and lead to more cautious decision-making.”
China has invested billions into Britain and is one of the country’s biggest trading partners. However, this relationship has become increasingly contentious, with the UK Government earlier this year taking charge of British Steel over fears its Chinese owners were planning to shut its blast furnaces.
Ming Yang’s plan to build turbines in Scotland has become a lightning rod for criticism, including from the Trump administration.
Dame Priti Patel, the shadow foreign secretary, has said the project poses “serious national security issues”. John Moolenaar, chairman of the House select committee on the Chinese Communist Party and an ally of Donald Trump, has said the Prime Minister must block the deal. The Trump administration is said to have privately expressed its concerns about Ming Yang to Labour over the summer.
Beijing’s latest comments will fuel a growing stand-off between China and the UK, which include a spat over each other’s embassy plans.
The collapse of a court case into alleged Chinese spying by British nationals has fuelled scrutiny of the relationship between the two nations, with claims that Labour scuttled the case to appease Beijing. The Government has denied any role in the case’s collapse.
Pictured: An artist’s impression of the proposed new Chinese embassy complex near the Tower of London – CBRE
Ming Yang’s planned factory, announced this month, would be the UK’s largest for turbines. It would supply them for offshore wind farms in UK waters, many of which are located near vital subsea cables and communications links.
Ming Yang, based in Zhongshan, plans to build a factory producing offshore and floating turbines in three phases. The first phase would start at the end of 2028.
The project would generate jobs for British workers, replacing some of the thousands lost by Labour’s 78pc tax on offshore oil and gas profits which has forced many companies to curtail operations.
However, the Ministry of Defence and MI5 are said to be concerned about the security risk of allowing China to place wind turbines and digital control systems, including monitoring cameras, onto UK systems.
They have warned that the turbines could be turned into spying centres for Beijing and provide a pretext for Chinese engineers to visit the country regularly. Beijing has claimed the allegations are baseless and discriminatory.
Richard Tice, energy spokesman for Reform, said: “China is a threat to our national security and our economy and anything it proposes should be scrutinised with that in mind.
“The risk is that by allowing Chinese companies to embed themselves in our economy, they can also exert control and make us ever more dependent. In the case of renewables, which are underwritten by subsidies, they are locking the UK into a system where they can extract money from British consumers and send it to China. It’s profitable for them and a circle of doom for us.”
The Treasury is keen to encourage more Chinese investment in the UK. The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero is said to see the new factory as key to meeting Ed Miliband’s goal of decarbonising the energy grid by 2030.
The Chinese government faces a separate but similar row over plans to build a large new London embassy on the former site of Britain’s Royal Mint, where British coins were made until the 1970s.
The project has raised multiple concerns, including that the building would sit atop vital communications cables.
