Is Liz Truss going soft on China?

In her speech to the Conservative party conference, Liz Truss rightly pointed out that we did not stand up to Russia early enough. ‘We became too dependent on authoritarian regimes for cheap goods and energy,’ she said. We can safely assume that those ‘other’ regimes include China, though curiously given how prominently the China threat figured in her leadership campaign, her speech contained no direct reference to Beijing.

To be fair, Truss had a lot on her mind, and it is early days in her administration. But there are a number of reasons to believe she is wobbling on her commitment to a more robust and coherent China policy. It’s time to ask whether her tough talk will soon be swept aside by the crisis facing her and the economy.

This week, a decision on the sale of Newport Wafer Fab, Britain’s largest chip-making facility, to a Chinese-owned company was delayed for a third time.