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1 day ago
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China has urged the British government not to “politicise” the row over the Scunthorpe steel plant, warning that doing so could deter Chinese companies from investing in the UK.
A spokesperson for the Chinese foreign ministry said on Monday that Jingye, the Beijing-based owner of British Steel, had acted as a commercial business when it tried to shut down the plant, not as an arm of the Chinese government.
The Chinese foreign ministry issued the warning after an unprecedented intervention from the British government, which has taken control of the site and is trying to secure enough supplies to keep its two blast furnaces in operation.
Lin Jian told a briefing in Beijing that the UK should “avoid politicising trade cooperation or linking it to security issues, so as not to impact the confidence of Chinese enterprises in going to the UK”.
“When it comes to the operational difficulties currently faced by British Steel, the two sides should negotiate a solution on the basis of mutual benefit.”
Lin also said Beijing wanted the British government to “treat Chinese businesses that have invested and operate in the UK fairly and justly, (and) protect their legitimate and lawful rights and interests”.
He added that the company was “a Chinese private enterprise that has undertaken cooperation with the British side based on market principles”.
Ministers have accused Jingye of acting in bad faith last week, as the company negotiated a bailout package with the government while also trying to sell shipments of raw materials that would have kept the plant open.
Jonathan Reynolds, the business secretary, refused to rule out the idea that Jingye’s actions could have been a deliberate act of sabotage against British steelmaking on Sunday – though he added it could have been a case of “neglect”.
However, on Monday Downing Street dismissed suggestions the company might have been motivated by a political desire from Beijing to damage Britain’s industrial base.
A spokesperson said: “We’re not aware of any deliberate acts of sabotage. But as the business sector, and I think the industry minister, said over the weekend, in the talks that we were engaging with the Chinese owners, it became clear that they wanted to shut the blast furnaces.”
The spokesperson added: “Obviously this relates to a commercial Chinese company, rather than a state-owned company.”
No 10 also insisted it had robust processes in place to check Chinese investment in British infrastructure. Those planned investments include the Bradwell B nuclear plant in Essex, where Chinese General Nuclear Power remains a lead developer.
A Downing Street spokesperson said: “When it comes to critical national infrastructure, we have rigorous processes and rules in place for managing our national security. Particularly when it comes to investment in our energy sector, those sorts of investments are subject to the highest levels of of national security scrutiny.”
Ministers are in a race against time to keep Scunthorpe’s two blast furnaces operating, given that they will become impossible to restart should they run out of fuel and cool down too much.
No 10 said on Monday ministers were “confident” they had secured two shipments of iron ore and coking coal to keep the plant running. The shipments are docked 30 miles east of Scunthorpe and are due to be delivered “in the coming days”.
Reynolds has also signed off on the decision to appoint two veterans of the Scunthorpe site to lead the company after the government’s takeover. Allan Bell will become the interim chief executive and Lisa Coulson will be interim chief commercial officer.
A company source said: “These were the serious people that kept the place running.”
