Rifkind: approached to put name to article on China’s nuclear plans

A British think tank is being paid about £10,000 a month by Japan to wage a propaganda campaign against China.

The Henry Jackson Society (HJS), a registered charity, has encouraged politicians including the former foreign secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind and journalists to voice opposition to Chinese foreign policy.

The HJS deal with the Japanese embassy in London was reached in response to growing co-operation between Britain and China, advocated by George Osborne when he was chancellor of the exchequer.

The HJS, which is run by Alan Mendoza, an unsuccessful Tory candidate at the 2015 general election, is being paid by the embassy to run the campaign.

This weekend Rifkind confirmed he had been approached by the HJS to put his name to an article published