Beijing welcomes Theresa May’s decision on nuclear plant after months of uncertainty saw relations in deep freeze

When Theresa May announced a review of the controversial China-backed Hinkley Point C plant in July, she appeared to have sounded the death knell for a potentially lucrative “golden era” of UK-China relations heralded by David Cameron and the Chinese president, Xi Jinping.



“Right now, the China-UK relationship is at a crucial historical juncture,” warned Beijing’s ambassador to London, underlining how much the golden friendship hinged on Hinkley.

With Thursday’s decision to approve the £18bn project - in which China will have a one-third share - May has given that special relationship a stay of execution. “I feel very happy about it,” said Shen Dingli, a professor of international relations at Shanghai’s Fudan University, reflecting Beijing’s glee.

But May’s decision to give Hinkley the green light is far from a resounding endorsement of the UK-China relationship that was negotiated under her predecessor. When George Osborne – the golden era’s chief British architect – jetted out to China exactly one year ago he declared himself on a mission to become Beijing’s best friend in the west.

Hinkley Point C nuclear power station gets government green light Read more

May has been far more cautious in her language since taking power, and her influential chief of staff, Nick Timothy, is known to harbour doubts about Osborne’s attempts to woo China’s authoritarian rulers.

“What are the Chinese buying with their gold?” Timothy wondered last October, questioning the wisdom of allowing a “hostile state” to become involved in sensitive sectors such as energy and communications.

Hinkley’s approval does little to suggest those concerns have been buried. Nor will it entirely convince Beijing of London’s continued commitment to the golden friendship.

For China, the key will be whether Downing Street allows it to follow up its involvement in Hinkley by helping build a second nuclear plant in Sizewell, Suffolk, and – more importantly – its own Chinese-designed plant in Bradwell, Essex.

The latter project would allow Beijing to show off its nuclear prowess to the rest of the world and is considered the real prize for China’s communist leaders.

The state-owned China General Nuclear Power said it was “delighted that the British government has decided to proceed. We are now able to move forward and deliver much-needed nuclear capacity at Hinkley Point, Sizewell and Bradwell”.

Yet the 724-word UK government statement announcing Hinkley’s approval made no mention of Bradwell, or even of China. Rather, it said “significant new safeguards” would be introduced for future foreign investment in critical infrastructure.

Steve Tsang, an expert in China politics at the University of Nottingham, said Beijing would now be “looking very hard” at the implications of these new conditions, “not so much about Hinkley but about Bradwell, which is the real deal for China.”

The nature of those conditions would determine whether the UK-China romance continued to blossom or was consigned to the scrap heap, he predicted. “A negative decision on Bradwell will mean the ‘golden era’ will not last.”

Additional reporting by Christy Yao in Beijing