£18 Billion Chinese Investment in U.K. Nuclear Plant Incites Criticism

Chinese President Xi Jinping announced plans to invest £18 billion ($28 million) in a British nuclear plant located at Hinkley Point in Somerset during his first state visit to the United Kingdom, a four day trip which occurred last week. The agreement adds to the recent surge in Chinese investments in the U.K., which altogether total £40 billion. According to the Department of Energy and Climate Change in the U.K., the plant will create 25,000 jobs and power 6 million homes by 2025. However, opponents have criticized the deal on multiple fronts. Some worry about the security implications of forging nuclear deals with China as many distrust the nation’s government. Western nations have claimed that Chinese hackers, who recently infiltrated many global corporations, were sponsored by the Chinese government; this has in turn raised fears of a potentially covert Chinese presence in Britain’s nuclear program. Still, Chair of the China Britain Business Council, Lord Sassoon, told BBC’s Today Programme that the idea of China shutting down a Chinese-owned plant “[didn’t] seem terribly logical to [him].”

Others have called out the Chinese government on human rights abuses. Former Chief Strategist to David Cameron, Steve Hilton, explained to BBC that “China is a rogue state just as bad as Russia or Iran, and I don’t understand why we’re sucking up to them rather than standing up to them as we should be.” Prime Minister Cameron responded to this criticism by noting that human rights, alongside all global issues, are better addressed with strong relationships between nations. At the press conference, he stated, “The more we trade together, the more we have a stake in each other’s success and the more we understand each other, the more we can work together to conform the problems that face our world today.”