The revelation that a parliamentary researcher has been arrested on suspicion of spying for China is a shocking one. Traditionally, the Government could respond in any number of ways. It could expel a few diplomats, impose mild tariffs, or put restrictions in imports, even if only temporary. And yet, according to Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch, none of that is possible. Her reasoning is simple: we need China to provide us with all the kit we need to meet our climate change commitments.
This is, obviously, crazy. The whole idea of “Net Zero” was that it would make us more secure, not less. Instead, our fanatical pursuit of an arbitrary target is leaving us increasingly exposed to hostile foreign powers.
All Britain has been able to do in response to a series of instances highlighting Chinese interference in our politics and businesses is bleat that it isn’t fair. That’s not because we don’t think it’s worth the hassle, or we don’t mind the Chinese spying on us. It’s because the pursuit of Net Zero is now apparently deemed to be so sacred that we must sacrifice safeguarding our country at the altar of heat pumps and wind turbines.
Imagine, just briefly, the chaos if we slapped tariffs on China, and disrupted the supply chains so critical to hitting our target of eliminating carbon emissions by 2050. We might get an unexpected burst of growth as the strictures on the economy were loosened – unthinkable!
Badenoch is probably right on the narrow point. China has become a critical supplier of all the technology that will be needed for a complete transformation of our energy system. Around 75 per cent of the world’s solar panels are made in China. Of the critical components for wind turbines, including parts and connectors, 70 per cent are made in China. Of new electric cars, 58 per cent sold globally are now made in China, rocketing up in just a few years.
And perhaps most importantly, around 40 per cent of heat pumps made globally are made in China, with most of its exports destined for Europe. As the Government attempts to force unwilling households to ditch their gas boilers, Xi Jinping will be rubbing his hands.
So too will Vladimir Putin. If Europe is reliant on Russia for gas, and China for its clean energy infrastructure, he and his allies will have us coming and going.
The simple fact is that Net Zero increasingly seems to be making us less secure, not more so. It was meant to protect us from the global impact of climate change and to shelter us from the changes to the weather that scientists claim will result from ignoring global warming. Instead, it’s making us completely dependent on the goodwill of the Chinese communist party – and their friend, Vladimir Putin.
There was, and still is, an alternative. The UK could build up its own manufacturing capabilities, making wind and solar generators domestically, or in partnership with other European countries, instead of relying completely on Chinese imports. We could build our own nuclear industry, as the French have done, and we could deploy fracking as an interim source of domestically produced energy while we complete the transition to greener energy sources. And we could drop our virtue-signalling determination to be a world-leader on climate change, and settle for being fifth or sixth in the world instead.
That way we would still have the ability to stand up to China, instead of cravenly kowtowing because we need its gear to hit our Net Zero target.