‘Pro-China’ Boris Johnson ‘enthusiastic’ about belt and road plan
- Britain’s next prime minister welcomes Chinese investment and students to ‘most open economy in Europe’
- Johnson tells Chinese-language broadcaster: ‘We are very interested in what President Xi is doing’
Boris Johnson, Britain’s prime minister-designate, said his government would be very “pro-China”, in an interview with a Hong Kong-based Chinese-language broadcaster shortly before he was chosen to succeed Theresa May on Tuesday.
Speaking to Phoenix TV, Johnson backed Chinese President Xi Jinping’s infrastructure-based Belt and Road Initiative and said his government would maintain an open market for Chinese investors in Britain.
“We are very enthusiastic about the Belt and Road Initiative. We are very interested in what President Xi is doing [for the plan],” he said.
The Brexit campaigner also vowed to keep Britain as “the most open economy in Europe” for Chinese investments. “Don’t forget [we are] the most open international investment [destination], particularly [for] Chinese investment. We have Chinese companies coming in to do Hinkley, for instance, the big nuclear power plant.”
Johnson also stressed that Britain was the first Western country to join the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), a move that angered its major ally, the United States.
