Armed Forces chief 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”.

Trip ‘based on weakness’

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.