{"id":13343,"date":"2023-11-28T12:30:41","date_gmt":"2023-11-28T12:30:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focus.cbbc.org\/?p=13343"},"modified":"2025-04-23T09:04:19","modified_gmt":"2025-04-23T09:04:19","slug":"what-are-david-camerons-ties-to-china","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focus.cbbc.org\/what-are-david-camerons-ties-to-china\/","title":{"rendered":"What are David Cameron’s ties to China?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cWhether you like it or not, China is an indisputable fact of global economic life,\u201d Rishi Sunak admitted this week in response to questions about his new foreign secretary, the former prime minister David Cameron. So what exactly have Cameron\u2019s dealings with China been over the years \u2013 from Huawei to Port City Colombo \u2013 and might they yet get him in trouble?<\/h3>\n

It\u2019s hard to forget the photograph of a jovial Xi Jinping in a British pub, smiling as he sipped on a pint of beer alongside then-Prime Minister David Cameron. And yet, for most, such a photocall seems like a lifetime away \u2013 an incongruous blast from the past when relations with China were in a better place<\/p>\n

David Cameron stepped down as prime minister in 2016, and the period in between has seen China and the UK grow further and further apart \u2013 not least because of a deadly global pandemic.<\/p>\n

But while China may have pulled away from the UK, Cameron has not pulled away from China. In fact, in the last few years, the former prime minister has been a key figure advocating for the world to engage more with the country.<\/p>\n

As he returns as Britain\u2019s foreign secretary, we recap how Cameron has been involved with China over the years and why.<\/p>\n

\"launchpad<\/a><\/p>\n

Why was Cameron\u2019s tenure as PM considered the \u201cGolden Era\u201d of UK-China Relations?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

David Cameron\u2019s time in the UK government between 2010 and 2016 has been referred to as the Golden Era of relations between the UK and China because he repeatedly emphasised mutual benefits in trade, investment and cultural exchanges between the two.<\/p>\n

Cameron led several high-profile delegations to China to boost economic ties, including efforts to increase Chinese investment in the UK and to promote British exports to the Middle Kingdom.<\/p>\n

Huawei<\/strong><\/h4>\n

According to The Guardian, in September 2012, Cameron welcomed Huawei\u2019s founder Ren Zhengfei to Downing Street for a \u2018fireside chat\u2019 after it was announced the company would invest an additional \u00a31.3bn in the UK. However, international opinion of the controversial telecommunications firm has since shifted, and by 2020 Boris Johnson\u2019s government had banned Huawei from Britain\u2019s 5G mobile communications network entirely, ordering operators to remove the firm\u2019s technology by 2027.<\/p>\n