UK: China Pushes Back On Criticism Of Steel Plant Operator Amid Drone 'Concern'
(MNI) London - The Chinese Embassy in the UK has pushed back against UK criticism of Chinese firm Jingye, which owns British Steel. Over the weekend, the UK gov't stepped in with emergency legislation that stopped just short of nationalising British Steel after Jingye said the blast furnaces at Scunthorpe would be turned off. The embassy spox accused some British politicians of rhetoric that is "absurd, reflecting their arrogance, ignorance and twisted mindset.".
- The Guardian reports comments from UK Secretary of State for Business and Trade Jonathan Reynolds saying "the UK had “got it wrong in the past” about allowing Chinese investment in strategically important industries such as steel, and highlighted the influence of the Chinese government on private companies. “I wouldn’t personally bring a Chinese company into our steel sector,”.
- Embassy spox: "Any words or deeds that politicise or maliciously hype up business issues will undermine the confidence of Chinese business investors in the UK and damage China-UK economic and trade cooperation"
- This comes as Bloomberg publishes an article claiming that UK officials have raised concerns about Chinese-made drones taking high-res pictures of strategic UK infrastructure. BBG: "One British official said the drones issue is challenging as the government tries to balance its public pursuit of closer economic ties with Beijing with its private frustrations that companies working in sensitive areas are not taking seriously the potential security threat posed by China."
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OATS continue to benefit from ratings relief, with further tailwinds coming via the uptick in equities.
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