At what point, do you think, will our diplomats and bean counters realise they have been honey-trapped? At least in terms of the UK’s political economy. For years, they have sold us the story of China as the great opportunity for Britain.
First, Beijing was the miraculous source of ultra-cheap technology to help us to cut costs. Then it became a fount of essentially free money to fund mega-investments. And then we were told the Chinese market was the great hope for high-value British service exports on a vast scale, despite the numerous barriers. Only now are we starting to count the cost of these illusions.
During a statement in parliament this week, the government admitted, 18 months after the fact, that a Beijing-linked hacking
