Rishi Sunak has claimed that the UK is “stronger” in its approach to China than its allies, as he continues to face calls to use more offensive language to describe Beijing following two cyber attacks.
The Prime Minister said suggestions that the government was not taking strong action against China were “completely false”.
Sunak defended the government’s stance on China when he appeared at the liaison committee on Tuesday afternoon and took questions from the chairman of a parliamentary select committee.
Liam Byrne, chairman of the business and trade committee, questioned Sunak, saying the UK only “thinks about it” when allies take action against China.
But Sunak claimed that was wrong, saying: “In fact, I would say our approach to China is undoubtedly stronger than that of most of our allies.
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“I have every confidence that our approach to addressing the risks posed by China is very consistent with our allies and will, in most cases, further protect ourselves.”
Mr Sunak appears after committee The UK government accuses Chinese “state-affiliated actors” of being responsible for two “malicious” cyber attacks in the UK.
two incidents
Speaking in the House of Commons, Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden revealed that the two incidents involved attacks in 2021 on the Electoral Commission, which oversees elections and political finance, and targeted attacks on MPs who were skeptical of China.
According to the National Cyber Security Center (NCSC), committee eventsA leaked electoral roll was discovered in 2022 that included the names and addresses of tens of millions of voters.
But “reconnaissance” in 2021 targeted the accounts of former Conservative leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith, former Conservative education secretary Tim Lawton, Liverpool crossbench MP Lord Alton and SNP MP Stuart Macdonald Didn’t succeed.
Are these MPs really the best interrogators in Parliament?
mission completed. The Prime Minister will be pleased with how things are going. No news. No gaffes. And not too grumpy. Frankly, it’s boring.
The highlight was Mr Sunak’s clash with Labour’s Lady Diana Johnson and the Scottish National Party’s Joanna Cherry over the government’s Rwanda policy.
He didn’t like it when Ms Cherry asked him if he was proud of telling Conservative MPs to vote against preventing Afghans supporting British troops in Afghanistan from being deported to Rwanda.
The closest Sunak has come to news has been his comments on two major foreign events this week: the UN Israel-Hamas ceasefire vote and the Chinese cyber hack.
He stressed the need for more aid to Gaza and agreed with Conservative MP Stephen Crabb that a UN ceasefire resolution should perhaps include criticism of Hamas.
On China, he claimed the UK had a tougher approach than other countries, sparking a clash with Labor MP Liam Byrne, who disputed the claim.
To be fair, he did confirm that the public could “safely assume” the pensions triple lock would remain in place during the next parliament if the Conservatives won the election.
But this is as good as it gets. When asked about reports that the chancellor was cutting national insurance ahead of this month’s Budget, the Prime Minister went so far as to say he regretted the leak.
The meeting began with the mildest of questions from former Treasury Secretary Harriet Baldwin, who asked: “How’s the economic strategy going?” The question was so bland that it was probably a deliberate question.
The hearing ended with a rambling chat with committee chairman Sir Bernard Jenkin about reforming Parliament to encourage more young people to take part in politics. That leads nowhere.
In just over 90 minutes, the Prime Minister got off the bus with great ease. If these are Parliament’s best interrogators, then Mr Sunak can rest easy as he embarks on the Easter holidays.
The government said the attack on lawmakers was carried out by the “Chinese state-affiliated” group APT31, but little is known about who was responsible for the attack on the committee
However, the NCSC said it was “highly likely to have been compromised by Chinese state-affiliated cyber entities.”
“Like an elephant giving birth to a mouse.”
Mr Dowden announce sanctions Targeting Wuhan Xiaorui Intelligent Technology Company, a front company associated with APT31, and two individuals, Zhao Guangzong and Ni Gaobin.
But I got an immediate response Ridiculed by Conservative MPsIncluding Sir Ian, who said Mr Dowden’s statement was “like an elephant giving birth to a mouse”.
Lawmakers in Sunak’s own party have urged him to upgrade Britain’s assessment of China from an “epochal challenge” to a “threat” – something Dowden suggested might be possible.
At the Liaison Committee meeting, the Prime Minister highlighted how the UK had removed Huawei equipment from its telecoms network while its European allies had failed to do so, and said the EU had not imposed restrictions on the export of sensitive technology to China.
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He also believes that the UK is less dependent on China for trade than Australia, South Korea, Japan, the United States and Germany, and that the UK has a security agency dedicated to helping companies deal with espionage and intellectual property threats from the country.
China denies
China has firmly denied responsibility for the attacks and accused the UK of “blatant political manipulation”.
A spokesman said the UK had “wrongly accused China of trying to interfere with British democracy”.
We strongly urge the British side to immediately stop spreading false information about China, stop such self-acted anti-China farce, and not to go further down the wrong path.
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