Beijing has bought nine British defense companies Parliament is alarmed that the government blocked

The Chinese Communist Party owns a company that supplies parts for the F-35B Lightning stealth fighter. (Photo credit: UK Ministry of Defense/Harland Quarrington/ CC BY-NC2.0)

British MPs have warned that aerospace companies struggling with the Wuhan pneumonia (Covid-19) pandemic could be snapped up by Beijing, giving the Chinese Communist Party access to the companies’ technology and boosting its military buildup.

The British House of Commons defense committee said in a report released Feb. 14 that the Defense Ministry should investigate China’s attempts to gain control of “financially vulnerable” aerospace companies hit by the civil aviation travel downturn, The Times reported Feb. 14.

The report said nine British companies that supply military equipment and components to the British Defense Ministry or allied forces have been acquired by Beijing. The companies include those that supply parts for the RAF’s F-35B Lightning stealth fighter and A400M Atlas transport aircraft, as well as companies involved in space technology and drone manufacturing.

The British Ministry of Defense, which has adopted a policy of attracting investment in the defense industry over the past 30 years, considers it an “acceptable risk. But British lawmakers said foreign investment in the industry should be limited to companies from NATO countries and other allies.

The committee also warned that venture capital funds “represent a way for hostile foreign investors to enter the British defense supply chain.

British lawmakers have called on Defense Secretary Ben Wallace to draw up a list of hostile countries that should be barred from investing in the U.K. defense supply chain, naming Communist China and Russia as major threats.

We carefully monitor foreign investment in the U.K. defense supply chain and conduct a rigorous assessment when considering its potential risk to national security,” said the U.K. Ministry of Defense. The National Security and Investment Bill [which is going through the parliamentary approval process] is designed to strengthen the government’s powers to screen and, if necessary, intervene.”