China has threatened to cut investments in the UK after claiming political interference from the Government was delaying construction of a major wind turbine factory in Scotland.
Ming Yang Smart Energy Group, an infrastructure group with ties to the Chinese Communist Party, wants to spend £1.5bn to build a turbine manufacturing base near Inverness.
The plan has provoked criticism, including from the Trump administration, over fears that giving Ming Yang access to Britain’s offshore wind infrastructure poses a national security risk.
Now the Chinese government has hit back. Guo Jiakun, a foreign ministry spokesman, said: “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”.
“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,” he told reporters at a daily briefing.
The comments come amid a stand-off between China and the UK over each other’s embassy plans. MI5 officials have also warned politicians they may be spied on by Beijing.
Pictured: An artist’s impression of the proposed new Chinese embassy complex near the Tower of London – CBRE
The 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 Britsh 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.
The row follows the collapse of a court case into alleged Chinese spying.
The US have also expressed concern. John Moolenaar, chairman of the House select committee on the Chinese Communist Party and an ally of Donald Trump, said the Prime Minister must block the deal.
Beijing has claimed the allegations are baseless and discriminatory.
The Treasury is also 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.