Senior Conservatives have called on the government to adopt a tougher stance towards China, citing growing concerns about Beijing’s handling of the coronavirus outbreak.
China hawks in the parliamentary party seized on comments at the end of last week by Dominic Raab, who is deputising for the prime minister while Boris Johnson recovers from being hospitalised by coronavirus.
The foreign secretary warned that Britain could not return to “business as usual” with a country that the Tory party has spent most of the last decade tapping up for inward investment. His comments came as the Trump administration turned up the pressure on Beijing over concerns the authorities there have been involved in a cover-up.