Sinoscepticism is on the rise in Parliament, with China’s controversial ‘Belt and Road Initiative’ increasingly being the subject of attention in the House of Lords. Down the corridor and across central lobby it appears no MPs are now willing to be linked with the scheme which ties Chinese infrastructure spending with increased influence.
The All Party Parliamentary Group for the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) was founded in 2018 by Labour MP Faisal Rashid, who managed to find time amidst the ongoing Brexit drama in the last Parliament to visit both Guangdong and Guangxi in China. As the Beijing to Britain briefing service points out, Chinese Ambassador to the UK Liu Xiaoming spoke at the group’s launch claiming: ‘This is an open, transparent and rule-based initiative… decisions are made through extensive consultation.’
Rashid himself argued: ‘I see BRI as actually an opportunity for the UK’ adding that the project ‘is not very well promoted at the moment in our parliament.
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