Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jerome Mayhew and Yvette Cooper

Tuesday 2nd December 2025 Commons Chamber

[Jerome Mayhew (Broadland and Fakenham) (Con)]

15. What assessment she has made of the level of threat that China poses to UK interests.

[The Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs (Yvette Cooper)]

China poses a series of national security threats, including on espionage, cyber-attacks, transnational repression and support for Russia in its war against Ukraine. We challenge China robustly in relation to all those threats. China is also our third-largest trading partner, and a country that we need to co-operate with on international issues, including trade and climate change.

[Yvette Cooper]

As the Prime Minister set out yesterday, in relation to China we need not just strong action on security and the economy in our national interest, but engagement. Since 2018, President Macron has visited China twice, and he is there again this week, and President Trump met President Xi in October and will visit China in April, yet until last November, there had been no UK leader-level meetings with China for six years under the Conservative Government. It is important that we engage with China on both security and the economy through our National Security Adviser, through the rest of the Government and through Ministers.

[Jerome Mayhew]

Last night, the Prime Minister said some tough things about China. He said:

“It’s time for a serious approach”

to the national security risk from China. The first opportunity to demonstrate that serious approach is on the planning application for China’s new super-embassy—complete, as we now know it is, with secret basement rooms. In her previous role, the Foreign Secretary wrote a letter in favour of the application, but given her new instructions from the Prime Minister, does she now agree that the application should be refused?

[Yvette Cooper]

As the hon. Member will know, a planning process is under way; it is quasi-judicial, so I cannot cut across it. In January, as Home Secretary, I and the former Foreign Secretary, my right hon. Friend the Member for Tottenham (Mr Lammy), wrote a letter during the planning process, setting out a number of national security considerations that required resolution before a decision could be made. Further updates will follow on that. I can say to the House that national security has been, and continues to be, a core priority for the Government.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jerome Mayhew and Yvette Cooper

Tuesday 28th October 2025 Commons Chamber

[Yvette Cooper]

We have these discussions with countries across the world, urging them to support sanctions or to reduce their dependence on Russian oil and gas, which will reduce those imports and help us choke off the supply of Russian oil and gas from the market. That is why we have also begun to sanction designated refineries not just in Russia itself, but across the world.

[Jerome Mayhew (Broadland and Fakenham) (Con)]

4. What assessment she has made of the level of threat China poses to UK interests.

[The Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs (Yvette Cooper)]

The former Foreign Secretary, my right hon. Friend the Member for Tottenham (Mr Lammy), set out to Parliament earlier this year the full spectrum of threats posed by China, including espionage, cyber-attacks, transnational repression and support for Russia. We challenge China robustly in relation to all those threats. China is also our third-largest trading partner and a country that we need to work with intensely on international issues such as climate change. We need to challenge China on security and compete and co-operate on economic and global affairs.

[Jerome Mayhew]

In her former role, the Foreign Secretary wrote to the Planning Inspectorate raising no objections to the Chinese super-embassy application. She did not mention any concerns about the secret basements—some people describe them as dungeons—on the application, and she raised no objection to the proximity of the application to key data cables in the City of London. In her new role, does she now regret her previous lack of action?

[Yvette Cooper]

The hon. Member will know that the Government take action to ensure that security measures are in place, and we do so through a series of different routes. He will also know that the planning process is independent, and will follow its course.