6 1GM Friday August 28 2020 | the times
News
The number of Chinese diplomats in
the UK has risen by almost a quarter in
the past decade, prompting renewed
concerns over the country’s political
influence in Britain.
At present, there are 116 Chinese
officials in the UK holding diplomatic
immunity, according to Foreign and
Commonwealth Office records. In
August 2010 the number was 94.
Chinese diplomats around the world
have been accused of displaying so-
called “wolf warrior” diplomacy during
China attempts to extend influence by sending more diplomats
Ross Kempsell
Special Correspondent, Times Radio
Lucy Fisher Defence Editor
the coronavirus pandemic. The term, a
reference to a series of action films pop-
ular in the country, is used by academ-
ics to characterise the increasingly
forthright style of its diplomats abroad.
Iain Duncan Smith, the Conservative
MP, said: “The Chinese government
has found they are having a tough time
with the Americans, so the purpose of
all these diplomats being here is they
see the UK as a back door to the USA.
“On issues like Huawei, they see
there is a chance for them to influence
the debate in the UK in some way.
“The British government is, I’m sorry
to say, being played as a useful idiot. At
some point the UK government muststep up and say we are not going to be
used by a dictatorial government that
has broken the rule of law.”
Alan Mendoza, executive director of
the Henry Jackson Society, a hawkish
foreign policy think tank, said the in-
creased number of diplomats was
“proof China is quietly expanding
its political influence in the UK, as
Beijing focuses attention on key policy
fault lines such as Huawei and Hong
Kong”.
He added: “It’s a further example of
the ‘wolf warrior’ diplomacy that China
is now adopting.
“These diplomats are increasingly
vocal in their criticism of UK govern-ment policy and are using their status
as a platform to aggressively engage in
public policy debates in the UK.”
The Vienna Convention on Diplo-
matic Relations sets out the ability of a
host country to control the numbers of
diplomats it receives. However, the
Foreign Office was not able to immedi-
ately confirm whether there was a cap
on the number of Chinese diplomats in
the UK.
Liu Xiaoming, the Chinese ambassa-
dor, held an hour-long virtual press
conference last month during which he
criticised the government’s decision to
block Huawei from the UK’s 5G
telecommunication, claiming thatLondon’s relationship with Beijing had
been “seriously poisoned”.
Yesterday Zend Rong, a spokesman
for the Chinese embassy, said: “ Recent-
ly, there have been worrying noises re-
garding the China-UK relations. Some
people in the UK deliberately twist and
smear the normal exchange and co-
operation between the two countries or
even clamour for the so-called ‘new
cold war’ toward China.
“We urge those people to look at
China and its development in an objec-
tive and rational light, take a compre-
hensive and pragmatic perspective and
contribute more positive energy to
China-UK relationship, not vice versa.”Sir Ed Davey told the Liberal Demo-
crats they needed to “wake up and smell
the coffee” as he was elected leader.
Sir Ed, who had been acting leader
since December, beat Layla Moran
with 63.5 per cent of the vote and quick-
ly vowed to regain the trust of voters.
He had been the bookmakers’
favourite for the contest, which began
after Jo Swinson lost her seat in last
year’s general election. The former
cabinet minister now faces a struggle to
improve his party’s fortunes after it
returned 11 MPs in December, well be-
low expectations. The contest had a low
turnout of 57.6 per cent of members.
In a victory speech in London yester-
day Sir Ed, 54, promised to begin a
“national listening project”.
He said: “We have to wake up and
smell the coffee. Nationally our party
has lost touch with too many voters. We
Profile
G
iven the choice as a young
man between MI6 and
Paddy Ashdown, Ed Davey
threw in his lot with the Liberal
Democrats (Eleni Courea writes).
He joined as an economics
researcher in 1989 straight from
university. Ashdown “genuinely
inspired” him: “You never knew
what he was going to do next.”
His father died when Ed was
four, then he and his elder
brother helped to care for their
mother until she died when he
was 15, something that he says
made him “quite independent”.
After leaving Nottingham High
School he read philosophy,
politics and economics at Oxford.
As a business minister in the
coalition he partly oversaw the
privatisation of the Post Office
and as energy secretary helped
to increase the use of renewables.
He was knighted in 2016.Lib Dems get
wake-up call
from Davey
are powerful advocates locally. Our
campaigners listen to local people,
work hard for communities and deliver
results,” he said. “But at the national
level we have to face the facts of three
disappointing general election results.”
Sir Ed, who represents Kingston &
Surbiton in Greater London, served as
energy and climate change secretary in
the coalition government. He lost his
seat to the Tories in 2015 but regained it
in 2017. He ran for the party leadership
last year but lost to Ms Swinson.
The Liberal Democrats have strug-
gled to remain relevant since their
numbers in the Commons fell from 57
in 2010 to eight at the 2015 election.
Since Sir Nick Clegg stood down in
2015 the party has got through four
leaders. Tim Farron lasted until 2017
when he was replaced by Sir Vince
Cable. He quit two years later and was
replaced by Ms Swinson, who enjoyed
high poll ratings at first but lost her seat
to the Scottish National Party.
Ms Swinson congratulated Sir Ed
and his “strong voice for liberal values”.
Sir Ed promised to travel across the
country to hear people’s concerns and
“face up to uncomfortable truths.” He
said his job was to “rebuild the Liberal
Democrats to national relevance” but
acknowledged: “None of this is going to
be easy, none of this is going to be
straightforward and none of it is going
to be quick or simple to achieve.”
“The truth is voters don’t believe the
Liberal Democrats want to help ordi-
nary people get on in life,” Sir Ed said.
“Voters don’t believe we share their
values. And voters don’t believe we are
on the side of people like them.”
During the campaign he emphasised
his government experience and envi-
ronmentalist credentials. He made
clear he would position the party to the
left of centre and ruled out any pact
with the Conservatives, declaring:
“They’re far too right-wing and I don’t
want anything to do with them.” He
said he would be open to working with
Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour.
His campaign raised about £200,
between January and August com-
pared with just over £50,000 for his op-
ponent. Ms Moran, 37, a former maths
teacher, became an MP in 2017.
The Lib Dems had planned to delay
the contest until next May because of
the pandemic but brought the date for-
ward after criticism from members.
Leading article, page 31Eleni Courea Political Reporter
New Tory
MPs demand
reform to
Gender Act
Patrick Maguire Red Box Reporter
George GryllsConservative MPs who won seats in
Labour’s northern heartlands last year
have broken ranks to urge Boris John-
son to press ahead with plans to make it
easier for people to change their
gender, warning of a “new Section 28
moment”.
In an intervention that highlights
unease among the new intake of Tories
elected in December, nine of Mr John-
son’s MPs backed proposals to allow
transgender people to be legally recog-
nised in their new identity by self-
declaring their transition.
Under the terms of the Gender
Recognition Act, trans people have to
receive a medical diagnosis, submit a
paper application and wait for two
years for legal recognition of their new
gender at a cost of £140.
The government has yet to respond
to a consultation on replacing it with
self-identification, which some femi-
nist groups have criticised amid con-
cerns over the safety of single-sex
spaces. Despite the pledge appearing in
Mr Johnson’s election manifesto,
Downing Street has repeatedly briefed
that it will be dropped. The reports were
a particular source of unease for
younger Conservative MPs.
In an article for the Conservative
Home website, Alicia Kearns and Nico-
la Richards, MPs for West Bromwich
East and Rutland and Melton, said it
was the prime minister’s “duty to follow
through” on the reforms. “As Conserva-
tives, we have made it a central tenet
that individuals should be free to live
their lives as they choose,” they wrote.
Their intervention was co-signed by
seven other new Conservative MPs,
one of whom told The Times that any
attempt by ministers to ignite a “culture
war” over the issue would backfire.
“This is about people’s families,” the
MP, who represents a former Labour
seat in the north said. “No 10 have to
tread very carefully.”
Referring to the controversial
Thatcher-era legislation that prevent-
ed teachers from discussing homo-
sexuality with their pupils, since disa-
vowed by the Conservatives, the MP
added: “This has every potential to be
our Section 28.”
John Cope, deputy chairman of the
LGBT+ Conservatives group, said the
MPs’ criticism proved that “the new in-
take is modernising, moderate and very
liberal”.
He said that up to 50 MPs could
support the proposed changes to the
Gender Recognition Act.Heavens above Chris and Sam Milford, father and son conservation experts, start
work on the spire of Norwich Cathedral, which towers 95m (312ft) over the cityJOE GIDDENS/PASir Ed Davey, 54,
plans a “national
listening project”