Western governments appear increasingly skittish about allowing Chinese firms to invest in strategically important industries. (Photo: Alamy)
Western governments are scrutinising investment ties with Beijing as worries multiply over repercussions for national security. The debate over Huawei's involvement in the worldwide rollout of 5G infrastructure has come to symbolise such concerns.
The UK is no exception but its change in tone is quite abrupt. In 2015, the government’s Strategic Defence and Security Review waxed lyrical about the prospect of investment deals with China, setting the lofty ambition of making Britain ‘China’s leading partner in the West’.
Six years later, attempts at forging a ‘golden decade’ of Anglo-Chinese economic relations lie in tatters, to the extent that the latest
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The initial document focused more on creating the right partnerships and inspiring investment in defence than on any details of how future UK Armed Forces would be armed.
The first stage of developing a new UK Defence Industrial Strategy has highlighted failings in current structures with solutions expected to be proposed in next year’s full strategy.
Romania joined NATO more than two decades ago and the country is vital to the alliance’s geographic reach and its ability to supply Ukraine with weapons.
Although Trump’s geopolitics policy for Europe remains unclear, defence analysts from the US and Europe predict how his incoming administration would attempt to handle critical issues on the continent.
The UK budget announced in Parliament on 30 October was the first by a Labour government in 14 years which has also launched a review into defence procurement programmes.
The Australian government has placed a focus on Guided Weapons and Explosive Ordnance (GWEO) which has included the purchase of additional long-range rocket systems and investments in local production of missiles.
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