Sir Keir Starmer insisted he would “robustly” protect the UK’s national interests in response to speculation he will visit China early next year and the country’s controversial embassy in London will be approved.
The Prime Minister said that no visit to China had yet been confirmed, while officials refused to comment on speculation about the planned embassy near the Tower of London.
But Sir Keir defended his approach to dealing with Xi Jinping’s country, which was to “co-operate where we can and challenge where we must, particularly on national security”.
The decision on the embassy is due next month and The Times reported it had been cleared by MI5 and MI6.
The newspaper reported the Home Office and the Foreign Office will not raise any formal objections to the plan, providing that “mitigations” are put in place to protect national security.
Sir Keir is at the G20 summit in South Africa, where China will be represented by premier Li Qiang rather than Mr Xi.
Asked if he would meet the Chinese premier during the summit, Sir Keir said: “The meetings I’m having at the G20 aren’t confirmed yet. Nor is any visit confirmed yet.
“Our approach is the same approach as we’ve always taken, which is co-operate where we can and challenge where we must, particularly on national security.
“You saw that this week, in relation to espionage, we had a statement in the House setting out the action the Government is taking along with MI5 because we will always robustly protect our interests.”
MI5 issued an alert to parliamentarians about the activities of two head-hunters, Amanda Qiu and Shirly Shen, who are both said to be using LinkedIn profiles to reach out on behalf of China’s ministry of state security.
The intelligence agencies believe China is attempting to recruit and groom individuals with access to sensitive information about Parliament and the UK Government, often masked through cover companies and head-hunters.
Critics of China fear the proposed new embassy, on a huge site close to the City of London and crucial data cables, will be used as a base for espionage.
A decision on whether to approve it will be made by Steve Reed’s Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government after a quasi-judicial process expected to end on December 10.
Approval of the embassy would remove one of the diplomatic barriers ahead of the long-expected visit by Sir Keir to China as he seeks to build business ties with the world’s second-largest economy.
Technology Secretary Liz Kendall declined to comment directly on reports the embassy will be approved, saying the decision “will be taken through the proper process”.
But she told Sky News: “We are clear-eyed about our relationship with China and national security will always come first. That is absolutely non-negotiable.
“But where we can safely work with China, whether that’s on the economy or areas like research, that’s what we’ll do, because we want to get the best outcome for the British public.”
Asked about reports that Sir Keir could visit China next year, she said: “I don’t know about the Prime Minister’s diary plans for the new year, but what I do know is that he takes all of those issues extremely seriously.”
Shadow foreign secretary Dame Priti Patel said Sir Keir was “desperate and unprincipled”, warning that rubber-stamping the “super embassy” would put Britain at risk.
“Keir Starmer really hates Britain,” she said.
“He’s jetting off to Beijing, days after our intelligence services issued alerts about Chinese espionage following the massive spy case.”
