{"id":1420145,"date":"2022-04-05T13:30:11","date_gmt":"2022-04-05T17:30:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1420145"},"modified":"2022-04-05T13:30:15","modified_gmt":"2022-04-05T17:30:15","slug":"sale-of-microchip-factory-to-china-was-not-investigated-as-promised-claim-uk-lawmakers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/sale-of-microchip-factory-to-china-was-not-investigated-as-promised-claim-uk-lawmakers\/","title":{"rendered":"Sale of Microchip Factory to China Was Not Investigated as Promised, Claim UK Lawmakers"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fsale-of-microchip-factory-to-china-was-not-investigated-as-promised-claim-uk-lawmakers%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1420145&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><\/div>\n<p class=\"subheading\">The sale of Britain\u2019s largest semiconductor factory to a firm controlled by the Chinese Communist Party has not properly been investigated by the government despite promises from Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the Foreign Affairs Committee has claimed.<\/p>\n<p>Following the takeover of\u00a0Newport Wafer Fab last year by\u00a0Chinese-owned Nexperia after the factory failed to meet its debt obligations, Prime Minister Boris Johnson vowed that the\u00a0National Security Adviser would investigate the matter.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"gmxrevmore\" class=\"H\"><\/figure>\n<p>However, a report from the\u00a0Foreign Affairs Committee on Tuesday said that they have not seen any evidence of such a review ever taking place and that they had \u201cno choice\u201d but to assume that one has not been started.<\/p>\n<p>While the government has said that has not made a decision on giving the final approval for the sale, a report last week from POLITICO <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/europe\/2022\/04\/02\/uk-govt-allows-sale-of-microchip-factory-to-communist-china\/\">claimed<\/a> that National Security Advisor\u00a0Stephen Lovegrove found that transferring ownership of the crucial plant did not represent a threat to the nation\u2019s national security.<\/p>\n<p>The Foreign Affairs Committee disagreed with such a sentiment, saying that given the importance of semiconductors to the modern economy, the sale of the factory to Communist China should \u201ccause concern\u201d particularly in light of the global microchip shortage in the wake of the Wuhan coronavirus.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cWe argued that it is crucial that the Government gets the new investment screening regime right from the beginning\u2014both to ensure that our national security is protected and that we remain firmly open to valuable foreign investment,\u201d the committee said.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Global Britain: Boris Johnson to Seek \u2018Deeper Trade Links\u2019 with Communist China <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/SPTXcctHBB\">https:\/\/t.co\/SPTXcctHBB<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BreitbartLondon\/status\/1371891516508155912?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 16, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>According to the BBC, Foreign Affairs chairman Tom Tugendhat <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/uk-wales-60984537\">said<\/a>: \u00a0\u201cSemiconductors are essential to every aspect of modern life and Newport Wafer Fab is one of the country\u2019s leading manufacturers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTheir takeover by Nexperia left many wondering why we are, seemingly, handing over critical security infrastructure to overseas companies with well-documented links to the Chinese state.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe long-term security of our nation relies not just on our Armed Forces but on the resilience of our economy and that means ensuring our future stability is never sacrificed for the sake of short-term advancement.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B3\" class=\"a8d adSo\"><\/figure>\n<p>The former leader of the Conservative Party and founder of the Interpaliamentary Alliance on China, Sir Iain Duncan Smith <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MPIainDS\/status\/1510986397112573961\">said<\/a> on Monday: \u201cWe must take back control of our strategic industries from China. The short-sighted sales of critical manufacturing infrastructure will leave us completely dependent on Beijing.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">A state-backed Communist Chinese firm has conducted a hostile takeover of the UK\u2019s largest microchip factory, raising concerns about Beijing\u2019s growing control of the market during a global chip shortage. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/SwTaMHQn35\">https:\/\/t.co\/SwTaMHQn35<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BreitbartNews\/status\/1412776296002818048?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 7, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Under the National Security and Investment Act, which came into effect in January, the government has the ability to shut down the sale of Newport Wafer Fab to Nexperia on grounds of national security, given its connections to Beijing.<\/p>\n<p>Though\u00a0Nexperia\u2019s headquarters are located in the Netherlands, the firm is owned by the Shanghai-listed Wingtech Technologies, which <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2021\/07\/07\/nexperia-owner-wingtech-is-backed-by-chinese-government-analysis-says.html\">according<\/a> to Chinese financial analysis company Datenna is heavily incorporated with the communist state.<\/p>\n<p>On top of concerns about the supply of semiconductors, the Welsh factory was also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2021\/07\/20\/newport-wafer-fab-has-over-a-dozen-contracts-with-british-government.html\">reported<\/a> to have\u00a0received around \u00a355 million ($75 million) from the British government in order to work on next-gen defence projects, including radar systems for fighter jets.<\/p>\n<p>Besides the attempted takeover of Newport Wafer Fab, Chinese firms have been steadily buying up critical infrastructure in Britain, spending at least\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/europe\/2021\/05\/02\/chinese-investor-have-bought-135-billion-in-uk-assets-report\/\">\u00a3135 billion<\/a> to buy ownership stakes in Thames Water, Heathrow airport, and UK Power Networks.<\/p>\n<p>Last year, British Steel \u2014 which produces one-third of the domestic steel supply \u2014 was also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/business-51795414\">taken over<\/a> by the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/europe\/2019\/11\/11\/company-with-ties-to-chinese-communists-buys-1-3-of-uk-steel-industry\/\">Communist Party-tied<\/a> Jingye Group.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Exclusive: Top Tory Says Invest in British Workers Instead of Relying on \u2018Cheap\u2019 Chinese Products <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/z8mqg8Z4zm\">https:\/\/t.co\/z8mqg8Z4zm<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BreitbartLondon\/status\/1445703127953465368?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 6, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><em><strong>Follow Kurt Zindulka on Twitter here <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/KurtZindulka\">@KurtZindulka<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The sale of Britain\u2019s largest semiconductor factory to a firm controlled by the Chinese Communist Party has not properly been investigated by the government despite promises from Prime Minister Boris<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":123,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1420145","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1420145","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/123"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1420145"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1420145\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1420145"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1420145"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1420145"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}