Philip Hammond battling to save China trade trip amid ‘gunboat diplomacy’ row Comments by Gavin Williamson throw Beijing visit into doubt

Philip Hammond is scrambling to salvage a crucial trade mission to Beijing after Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson sparked a “gunboat diplomacy” spat with China earlier this week.

The Treasury is still working on plans to send the Chancellor to the Far East despite complaints from the Chinese ambassador to London over Mr Williamson’s comments about sending a British aircraft carrier to China’s backyard.

Mr Hammond was due to fly to Beijing to meet Chinese vice premier Hu Chunhua as part of efforts to open up new markets worth as much as £10.2bn over the next five years.

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Chinese trade

It follows the Chinese government’s decision to lift its ban on British poultry and cosmetics which have not been tested on animals.

But reports emerged this week that the visit was called off at the eleventh hour by Mr Hu in protest against Mr Williamson’s comments, in which he called for Britain to boost the “lethality” of its armed forces.

Downing Street and the Treasury are understood to be fuming about the Defence Secretary’s address to the RUSI conference in London.

“His idiotic speech wasn’t received well in China,” one British official told the FT.

Treasury sources denied the visit was cancelled, telling i that “plans were still in progress” to send Mr Hammond out to China.

Former chancellor George Osborne said the row was symptomatic of the UK’s inability to decided whether it viewed China as an economic partner or a threat militarily.

All at sea

“It is very difficult to work out what the British government’s China policy is at the moment,” Mr Osborne told the BBC. “Ultimately it’s the responsibility of Theresa May to sort this out. At the moment it looks all at sea.”

A split has emerged in the Cabinet with Mr Hammond and Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt eager to foster closer ties with China, while others such as Mr Williamson view the country more as a threat.

“You have got the defence secretary engaging in gunboat diplomacy of a quite old-fashioned kind at the same time as the chancellor of the exchequer and the foreign secretary are going around saying they want a close economic partnership with China,” Mr Osborne said.