Traditional allies of Britain are expressing concerns over Finance Minister George Osborne’s increasingly lavish overtures to Beijing as Chinese president Xi Jinping heads to London for a four-day visit, The Financial Times reported. One senior western intelligence officer commented: “The most charitable spin we can put on the current China policy of the British government is to say it is a pure mercantilist, unprincipled, self-serving decision aimed at attracting short-term investment. The big question is whether it actually works.” But Osborne and Prime Minister David Cameron view China as a huge source of investment with the potential to turn northern England into a second global financial hub.
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