The recent decision by Britain’s Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) to uphold the ban on a Chinese businessman from entering the UK on supposed grounds of “national security” has predictably unleashed a tidal wave of McCarthyite ‘red scare’ propaganda and witch-hunting heavily overladen with thinly disguised racial prejudice on the part of the right-wing media and a number of parliamentarians who are yet to see an anti-China bandwagon that they are not desperate to jump on. The ban was originally imposed by then Home Secretary Suella Braverman.
Braverman is a notorious and shameless extreme right-wing demagogue who in January 2023 was told by a holocaust survivor: “When I hear you using words against refugees like ‘swarms’ and an ‘invasion’, I am reminded of the language used to dehumanise and justify the murder of my family and millions of others.”
Earlier, in October 2022, she said that she would love to see a front page of the hard right Daily Telegraph reporting the sending of asylum seekers to Rwanda, describing it as her “dream” and “obsession”. In November 2023, she callously proposed new laws in England and Wales to limit the use of tents by homeless people, stating that many of them see homelessness as “a lifestyle choice”.
Describing demonstrations in support of the Palestinian people and against genocide as “hate marches”, she wrote to Chief Constables: “I would encourage police to consider whether chants such as: ‘From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free’… in certain contexts may amount to a racially aggravated section 5 public order offence,” adding that, “behaviours that are legitimate in some circumstances, for example the waving of a Palestinian flag, may not be legitimate such as when intended to glorify acts of terrorism.”
She has boasted of having “close family members who serve in the Israel Defense Forces”, yet has also spoken of being engaged in a “battle against Cultural Marxism”, a term generally associated with anti-semitism.
Responding to the tabling of an “urgent question” on the issue in the House of Commons on December 16, the spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in London commented:
“As for the anti-China clamours made by a handful of UK MPs, they have done nothing but fully revealed their twisted mentality towards China, as well as their arrogance and shamelessness. This is a typical case of a thief crying ‘catch thief’. What they are really up to is to smear China, target against the Chinese community in the UK and undermine normal personnel exchanges between China and the UK.”
The spokesperson added: “We always believe that a sound and stable China-UK relationship is not a one-sided favour but what meets the common interests of both sides… We urge the UK side to immediately stop creating trouble, stop anti-China political manipulations, and stop undermining normal personnel exchanges between China and the UK.”
Earlier, speaking to the Morning Star newspaper, Robert Griffiths, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Britain (CPB), noted that it, “may be no coincidence that this story has resurfaced at the very time the Labour government says it wants to improve economic relations with China.”
An editorial in the same newspaper criticised “the determination of parts of the ruling class to prevent any warming of relations between Britain and China under the new Labour government, which has, so far, seemed marginally more willing than its predecessors to consider cooperation rather than conflict with a country that is the world’s second-largest economy, biggest manufacturer, and a global leader across multiple emerging technologies, including in the crucial renewable energy sector.
“‘Decoupling’ from China will hurt British industry, disrupt a green transition and carries the historically demonstrable risk that trade wars precede actual wars.”
The following article was originally published on the website of the Chinese Embassy in London.
Question: It is reported that the businessman banned from entering the UK has asked his legal team to disclose his identity. This businessman has also made it clear in a statement that he has done nothing wrong or unlawful. In the meantime, the UK Parliament this afternoon heard an urgent question on this issue, during which a few MPs continued to accuse the businessman of being a “Chinese spy”. What is your comment?
Embassy Spokesperson: We have noticed that the businessman has issued a statement to make a clarification.
As for the anti-China clamours made by a handful of UK MPs, they have done nothing but fully revealed their twisted mentality towards China, as well as their arrogance and shamelessness. This is a typical case of a thief crying “catch thief”. What they are really up to is to smear China, target against the Chinese community in the UK and undermine normal personnel exchanges between China and the UK. We strongly condemn this.
I must point out that the CPC and the Chinese government uphold that countries should pursue friendship and cooperation on the basis of mutual respect for each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, non-interference in each other’s internal affairs, equality and mutual benefit. This is what we have been saying and what we have been doing. This is also why China has so many friends around the world.
I also want to reiterate that the United Front led by the CPC endeavours to bring together various political parties and people from all walks of life, ethnic groups and organisations to promote cooperation between the CPC and people who are not members of it and promote people-to-people exchanges and friendship with other countries. This is above-board and beyond reproach. Though some UK politicians attempted to demonise China’s United Front work, they are doomed to fail.
We always believe that a sound and stable China-UK relationship is not a one-sided favour but what meets the common interests of both sides. The UK side must have a right perception of China, see the historical trend clearly, and handle its relations with China on the basis of mutual respect, non-interference in each other’s internal affairs, equality and mutual benefit.
We urge the UK side to immediately stop creating trouble, stop anti-China political manipulations, and stop undermining normal personnel exchanges between China and the UK.
