China accused of trying to sabotage, Britain to quickly nationalize steel plant

The British government has accused a Chinese company of intentionally sabotaging the last major steel plant in the UK. Last Saturday, the UK Parliament passed an emergency bill allowing the government to take over the troubled steel plant owned by the Chinese company. Beijing warned the UK not to turn economic and trade cooperation into political and security issues.

According to Breitbart News on Monday, the British steel company’s Scunthorpe plant is the last major steel plant in the UK. The UK government expressed concerns about potential sabotage by the Chinese owners, leading to the forced closure of the plant following its nationalization.

The UK steel company was previously state-owned, declared bankruptcy in 2019, and was acquired by the Chinese private steel company Jingye Group in 2020. After the acquisition, the company underwent restructuring but faced daily losses of £700,000 (approximately $910,000) due to rising energy and environmental costs.

Reports indicate that recently, Jingye Group deliberately canceled fuel orders necessary to maintain operations of the blast furnaces. Once the blast furnaces are shut down, the molten metal inside would solidify, making the restart process extremely difficult and costly.

On Monday, the UK government stated that it had secured enough fuel to ensure the blast furnaces could maintain high temperatures in the coming days.

Gary Smith, General Secretary of the UK’s national union GMB, expressed concerns about destructive actions by Jingye Group. He mentioned that the government intends to nationalize the steel plant due to fears of sabotage, with workers blocking the factory to prevent the Chinese owners from entering.

Smith, as reported by The Guardian, stated, “We’re worried about the plant being sabotaged. Yesterday, the workers did block the Chinese owners from entry. I believe there is still a huge concern about it, but workers showed courage yesterday to ensure there is a glimmer of hope for our steel industry. They are genuinely worried about industry sabotage.”

According to GB News, despite the revocation of safety corridor permits over the weekend, six to eight Chinese executives managed to enter the factory and lock themselves in a room before being summoned by the UK authorities.

Conservative MP Sir Christopher Chope mentioned in The Times that the Chinese owners are attempting to force the dissolution of the British steel company as they have constructed a new steel production facility in China, aiming to supply the UK market, a move he considered an industrial sabotage attempt.

UK Brexit party leader Nigel Farage shared a similar perspective, stating he was “100 percent certain” that China’s acquisition of the UK steel company was aimed at its destruction.

The UK government indicated that discussions with Jingye Group concluded that the company is determined to close down the furnaces.

The Times reported that internal UK government sources believed that Jingye Group’s actions were aimed at preventing the UK from producing its own steel, forcing dependency on Chinese imports. These measures include refusing to order new raw materials, selling existing materials, and rejecting proposals from UK ministers to help the factory stay afloat.

On Monday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian expressed hope that the UK would “treat Chinese companies investing and operating in the country fairly and justly, protecting their legitimate rights and interests.”

He urged the UK to “avoid elevating economic and trade cooperation into political and security issues to maintain the confidence of Chinese businesses investing and operating normally in the UK.”

Once a leading industry globally, the UK’s steel sector has nearly vanished. Apart from China’s steel dumping, the UK government’s policies like raising energy costs through green agendas have severely hindered steel production.

With the UK being one of the world’s costliest for electricity, the complete ban on coal mining forces the imported coal fuel required by steel blast furnaces to be shipped in from overseas.