Tories publicly clash over Chinese takeaway

Efforts to rid Huawei from Britain’s 5G mobile network were a constant feature of Tory politics last year. The question of whether a company with links to the Chinese state should be involved in such sensitive infrastructure dominated much of 2020, culminating in Oliver Dowden’s announcement in November of a ban on Huawei in 5G networks. It followed a long-running campaign by the 40 or so MPs who belong to the China Research Group, run by Tom Tugendhat, the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee.

But now it appears that a similar fight could be looming over another Chinese tech giant. Kwasi Kwarteng and the department of business (BEIS) appear to not be heeding the example of Dowden’s culture ministry, judging by the former’s reluctance to intervene in the takeover of British semiconducter company Newport Wafer Fab (NWF). The firm, which is based in Wales, is currently in the crosshairs of Chinese company Nexperia – a 100 per cent owned subsidiary of the Chinese-based Wingtech Technology.