The UK government is exhibiting contradictory behaviors in its dealings with China, as illustrated by the recent actions of business secretary Jonathan Reynolds and minister Douglas Alexander. While Reynolds criticizes Chinese ownership of British Steel for its negligence, Alexander is engaged in trade discussions in China. This duality exemplifies the broader inconsistency in the UK's China policy, shaped by differing government perspectives and global changes since 2010, highlighting a shift from warmer ties to a more skeptical stance even amid ongoing economic interests.
This weekend brought a particularly resonant example. On the one hand, the business secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, was hinting that British Steel's Chinese owner, Jingye, was to blame for neglect if not worse over the fate of the threatened blast furnaces at Scunthorpe.
For all that Foreign Office officials always insist that nothing fundamentally changes in the UK's efforts to deal with China, the reality is that the approach does very much vary by government.
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