According to comprehensive media reports, British Minister Dowden (Oliver Dowden) told Parliament in a written statement on the 24th that after reviewing the installation of visual surveillance systems in government departments, the current and possible future security risks, the government made this decision, which requires the The department banned the installation of surveillance cameras made by Chinese companies in sensitive locations.
Dowden said in a statement that following a review by the British government, government departments were instructed to stop deploying cameras produced by companies subject to China’s National Intelligence Act in sensitive locations. “As the safety of these venues is always of paramount importance, we are taking action to prevent any safety risks from arising,” he said.
The announcement came after Britain’s Defense Infrastructure Organisation’s Security Services Group said companies in China must comply with China’s National Intelligence Law, which requires companies to communicate with Beijing’s intelligence services. cooperation, so they should no longer be used.
According to civil liberties group Big Brother Watch, most UK public bodies use CCTV cameras made by Chinese companies Hikvision or Dahua.
In July, 67 MPs and members of the House of Lords urged London to ban the sale and use of surveillance equipment made by the two companies, some of which it said had “facilitated” human rights violations against the Uyghur minority in Xinjiang.
Sunak is accused of softening his attitude towards the CCP, but he cannot reverse the freezing point of UK-China relations
According to a BBC report, the new British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak once called Beijing a “threat” in an interview with reporters on November 15, but immediately corrected his statement and called it a “challenge”.
According to an analysis by The Financial Times, Sunak sees Beijing as a “systemic challenge” rather than a “threat” as claimed by former Prime Minister Liz Truss. The stance softened.
On the second day after Sunak just made his statement (16th), the British Prime Minister’s residence announced that during the G20 summit originally scheduled to be held in Bali, Indonesia, on the afternoon of the 16th, Sunak and the Chinese President Xi Jinping held a meeting between the heads of state of China and the UK, but due to “scheduling arrangements”, the meeting schedule has been cancelled. This was originally the first face-to-face meeting between the leaders of the two countries in the past five years.
On the same day as the cancellation of the meeting between the two heads of state, the British government ordered a Chinese-funded company that has completed the merger and takeover of a British semiconductor wafer manufacturing plant in Wales for more than a year to release most of its shares on the grounds of national security.
The Netherlands-based Nexperia, which is wholly owned by the Shanghai-based Chinese company Wingtech, acquired the Newport fab, one of the UK’s largest semiconductor companies, for £63 million in July last year. 100% of the equity, and has taken over the operation of the plant for more than a year.
British Business Secretary Grant Shapps (Grant Shapps) issued an order on the 16th, “requiring Nexperia to sell at least 86% of the shares in the Newport wafer manufacturing plant to prevent potential national security risks.”
The Associated Press quoted Sharps as saying that allowing Nexperia to develop the Newport fab risked “undermining the UK’s capabilities in this area.”
On the second day after the British side canceled the meeting between the two heads of state, Ken McCallum, director of MI5 (MI5), who is responsible for the internal security of the UK, delivered a speech, juxtaposing the CCP with Russia and Iran as an objection to Three threats to Britain. All three countries will use coercion, intimidation and even violence to pursue their interests abroad, McCallum said.
He said that the Chinese Communist Party uses more and more overt or covert pressure to coerce other countries.
He referred to a speech he gave a few months ago with FBI Director Christopher Wray, stating that the Chinese Communist Party poses “the most game-changing challenge” to the United States.
McCallum said they had pointed out how the CCP used intelligence agents, hackers, businessmen, and even researchers to steal business information from the government and private companies, and how organizations protected themselves when engaging with the world.
He said that the CCP will have long-term plans for potential targets and use them to manipulate public opinion to help Beijing. Not only well-known congressmen are affected, but also those who have just started in the public affairs field, and a “debt of favor” is slowly established for them.
He said that MI5 has seen the CCP government use all means around the world to monitor and intimidate Chinese overseas communities, including harassment, attacks and forcing Chinese nationals to return home.
McCallum singled out the attack on a Hong Kong protester outside the Chinese consulate in Manchester, as well as so-called “Chinese overseas police stations”. He said the CCP’s United Front Work Department and other United Front organizations put pressure on those who challenge what the CCP considers “core interests,” whether they are pursuing democracy in Hong Kong or human rights in Xinjiang.
Politicians visit Taiwan, Sunak says he does not rule out arms aid to Taiwan
Just as Sunak called the CCP a challenge in the interview, when asked whether he would send weapons to Taiwan, he said that Britain was ready to support Taiwan at any time.
“We are looking at all of these policies as part of our updated comprehensive assessment,” he said. “Clearly, our policy towards Taiwan is that there should not be any unilateral change of status, there should be a peaceful solution. We stand ready to support Taiwan, Just like we oppose Chinese aggression.”
Prior to Sunak’s statement, Greg Hands, the British Deputy Minister of International Trade, visited Taiwan on November 7, co-chaired the Taiwan-UK Economic and Trade Dialogue with officials from Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs, and met with President Tsai Ing-wen of the Republic of China.
During the meeting, Tsai Ing-wen said: “Over the past few years, Taiwan and the United Kingdom have continuously deepened their cooperation in the fields of technology, energy, economy and trade, and smart cities. Facing the challenges of the post-epidemic era, Taiwan has advantages in cutting-edge semiconductor manufacturing,” We are willing to assist the world in the optimal configuration of the semiconductor supply chain restructuring. We also look forward to democratic allies such as Taiwan and the United Kingdom to jointly build a more resilient global supply chain through forward-looking technology cooperation, mutual investment, and financial support. “
After the statement between the British and Taiwan governments, the Central News Agency quoted British sources as saying that the Foreign Affairs Committee of the British Parliament will visit Taiwan next week. The last visit of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the British Parliament dates back to 2006.
According to a report from the Central News Agency, Kerns, the new chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the British Parliament, who was newly elected on October 12, is one of the very few British MPs who are committed to breaking the framework of UK-China relations and exploring and advancing Taiwan-UK relations. Although she is regarded as a “hawk against China” and is proud of it, she advocates that “supporting Taiwan should not be just to resist China”, and the relationship between Taiwan and Britain itself is a topic worthy of focused discussion.
Kerns also took the lead in advocating to reduce the UK’s reliance on Beijing-controlled institutions such as the “Confucius Institute” by introducing more Chinese teaching resources from Taiwan. In an exclusive interview in August, she told Central News Agency that she was looking forward to discussing the possibility of a trade agreement between the UK and Taiwan during her visit to Taiwan, and to learn from Taiwan’s response to threats from Beijing, and the means covered the fields of economy, trade, information, and the Internet. hybrid warfare.
When running for the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee in September, Kerns said in an interview with the Central News Agency that if she is elected, she will continue to discuss with Taiwan the common priorities of both Taiwan and the UK. Taiwan is a key democratic partner of the UK’s “Indo-Pacific tilt” policy .
Chang Ming, a European current affairs analyst, told this station that after the outbreak of the Russo-Ukrainian War, the confrontation between the two camps of democracy and authoritarianism in the world has become increasingly clear. The United Kingdom has shown a very different attitude towards the relationship between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait.