It

was very much the zeitgeist that we should be expanding all sorts of relations with China.

Charlie Parton, OBE, worked at the British Embassy in Beijing and then with the EU and thinks the Golden Era should have been called

the Golden Era.

At the time I was working in the EU delegation in Beijing, we'd have a cup of coffee and say, this is unbelievable and very naive, but nevertheless it is the government's policy and that was the spirit of the times.

It was to many of us extraordinary that these sorts of things were going on.

How much do you think that the kind of current government's woes towards China are both, you know, either party mismanagement because of incoming new government or if it's longstanding strategic assumptions of the Treasury getting it wrong?

Well, I think, first of all, I think that the Treasury runs China policy.

Uh, the Treasury has very little experience with China, incidentally.

Uh, but it has always been, as it was under George Osborne, and it seems to be continuing so at the moment.

I think its knowledge of, of, of, uh, of China is, is deficient in the sense that, I mean, ministers always go on about trade.

They should go on about exports.

Uh, and as I've said in, in various papers, uh, exports are not aff- affected by the political atmosphere, just as you stated.

I mean, what do you make of that claim that the deputy national security advisor is the one in the frame here? How credible is that? And really, what's been your experience with dealing with Whitehall when it comes to these matters? I mean, is it the Treasury, you say, of course, making the big strategic decisions, would they have played a role, uh, in some of this kind of decisions behind the scene?

Mm-hmm.

And that is that, you know, invasion and blockade, and I mean a full blockade to bring Taiwan into, into the Chinese Communist Party's grasp, is the same thing.

So, I don't think we, we need to differentiate between those.

Uh, whatever means they, they do, it's, it involves a form of arms and, and, and a large base of coercion.

And, and I...

but I think the consequences are equally drastic for China.

Taiwan produces 90% of the world's high-level semiconductors and 50 to 60% of, of all of them.

It's often compared to Ukraine, the Ukraine invasion, but actually it's not the s- same situation at all to invade Taiwan, is it?