Armed Forces head under fire over China visit
The head of the British military has been criticised for visiting China earlier this week.
Adml Sir Tony Radakin's trip marked the first time in 10 years that a UK official of his rank had travelled to Beijing for talks.
Sir Tony and members of China's central military commission discussed 'issues of common concern' during the visit on Wednesday, according to the country's defence ministry.
However, Sir Iain Duncan Smith, the former Tory leader, described the Chief of the Defence Staff's trip as 'terrible' and an act of 'appeasement'.
He told The Telegraph: 'China is a brutal state, guilty of genocide in Xinjiang. It has seized the South China Sea and is militarising it, is threatening to invade Taiwan, carries out cyber attacks on UK installations at home and abroad, and supports Russia in its illegal invasion of Ukraine by buying sanctioned oil and gas from Russia.'
Sir Iain added that China was also 'an ally of Iran and brokered the North Korean-Russian defence pact, within which Russia is giving North Korea sub-launch ballistic missile technology, increasing the threat to Western states'.
He described the meeting as a 'ghastly game of appeasement' and added that the visit had been made by a Labour Government 'that is kowtowing to China'.
Bob Seely, a former Tory MP and China hawk, said the visit represented Labour's desire to 'reset relations with China', but was 'based on weakness, not strength, and increasing supply chain dependency'.
Gen Liu Zhenli, a member of China's central military commission, was among those who held talks with Sir Tony during his visit.
An official readout of their meeting said: 'The two sides conducted in-depth exchanges on China-UK relations and mil-to-mil relations, international and regional situations and issues of common concern, and had communication on strengthening exchanges and co-operation between the two militaries.'
The Telegraph understands that Sir Tony's visit was seen as a natural continuation of the Government's desire to 'reset' relations with China after Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor, visited Beijing in January.
Her trip followed a similar visit by David Lammy, the Foreign Secretary, to the country at the end of last year.
Sir Keir Starmer has yet to visit Beijing as Prime Minister, although it is understood a trip is being planned.
The Telegraph understands that while Sir Tony's visit aimed to establish cordial relations, there are no plans to begin joint military exercises between the two nations.
On Thursday night, he posted on X that he had visited China to discuss 'a range of security issues'.
Sir Tony added: 'We agreed that, in an unstable world, we must play our part as responsible nations with global interests, and we reflected on the importance of military-to-military communications.'
He also gave a speech to future Chinese military commanders at the People's Liberation Army National Defence University in Beijing, according to The Times.
The Ministry of Defence did not appear to publicise the visit, which comes just days after Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, said his forces had captured two Chinese citizens who had been fighting on behalf of Russia.
The last time a chief of the defence staff visited China was in 2015, when Gen Sir Nicholas Houghton travelled to the country during a period of good relations.
The UK-China relationship has since become more tense, amid concerns about Beijing's human rights record and growing global influence.
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"China is hurting, yes—but they still hold the upper hand on critical resources, and they know how to use them." Any lessening of tensions — and freer flow — of these mineral resources in China would be a significant boost to the global economy with China holding outsized leverage in both the reserves and processing capacity of these key building blocks for everything from computers to electric vehicle batteries to medical devices. Likewise, the US offering concessions on export controls would be a significant move after years where successive US administrations have wielded these controls — especially around the design and manufacture of semiconductors — by saying they need to be tight on China for national security reasons. Read more here. May's Consumer Price Index (CPI) report will be released on Wednesday and its expected to show that prices rose a bit faster than in April. 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A federal appeals could said on Tuesday that President Trump's sweeping tariffs can continue for now. This is a significant win for Trump, who introduced tariffs back in March and declared "Liberation Day," as he saw them as a way to free the US from what he called unfair trade practices. Bloomberg News reports: Read more here. Early summer sales for Inditex, the owner of fashion retailer Zara, came in weaker, as the company missed expectations for first quarter sales on Wednesday. President Trump's tariffs have impacted consumer demand in the US and other major markets. Reuters reports: Read more here. After weeks of back and forth, the US and China have agreed on a framework to implement the Geneva consensus that helped ease tariffs. The breakthrough came after two days of talks in London, including a marathon session on Tuesday. US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said both sides had to "get the negativity out" before making progress. 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