Theresa May has refused to give written support for China’s “New Silk Road” project amid concerns in the west that contracts for the huge infrastructure scheme are not transparent and favour Chinese companies.
After weeks of tensions over the Belt and Road Initiative, the UK prime minister declined to sign a proposed memorandum of understanding (MOU), viewed by Beijing as an important signal of western support for President Xi Jinping’s signature project.
“There wasn’t a memorandum of understanding signed,” Mrs May’s aides confirmed. One person close to the negotiations said China had been pressing the prime minister to sign a declaration “since before Christmas”.
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