The UK should impose economic sanctions on China, after claims the country hacked the Ministry of Defence, a senior Conservative MP, Sir Iain Duncan Smith, has said.
Sir Ian said he believed there was conflict within Whitehall over how to deal with China, but warned that the country's purpose was to “destroy democracy” and that the country needed to “confront it”.
talk on GB NewsSir Iain Duncan Smith said: “My view on this is very clear that I think there is a bit of conflict within the government. I think the State Department is very opposed to doing business with China, because of business and all the other reasons it gives.
I think in places like defense, they want to name names and start confronting China on this. So, the truth is that our problem begins with the integrated review. When Rishi Sunak was trying to become prime minister, he said they posed a “systemic threat”.
“When we updated our review of the integration tools, it turned out that it was actually a 'era-defining challenge.'
“The great thing about it is that we will meet this challenge with ‘strong pragmatism.’” Now that sounds like a screenwriter Yes, the Prime Minister has come in.
I've argued endlessly that you have to claim they pose a threat. They pose a threat. They know they are a threat. Everyone knows that. Americans know they are a threat. They were responsible for Covid, so you don't face much greater threat than that.
“Apparently overnight, someone from the Department of Defense communicated that they knew that China was likely the malicious actor. In the morning, the government was concerned that this would be done on the grounds that it did not have the full facts.
“So the reality is that it's almost certainly China, after all, I think the FBI described China as having the largest cyber warfare unit in the world, dwarfing everyone else's including their own.
“There is malice. They have a goal in life, which is to destroy democracy, human rights and freedom. They are completely against democracy and have made it clear from the beginning that their goal in life is to destroy those elements and return the world to tyranny.
“This is their plan, and we need to implement it.
“I also just explained that almost two years ago the US agencies informed us – secretly – that China had hacked the Election Commission and was hacking a large number of representatives.
“It took us a year and a half to finally get back to the dispatch box and accept that it was China that did this. And I think the reason they don't want to do it is because what follows should be sanctions. And sanctions mean when you're in a confrontation with China. This is the case and America is already in this position; we must be in the same way.”
