cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/12467726
The scheme, proposed by Chinese turbine manufacturer Ming Yang, had promised to create around 1,500 jobs at Ardersier Port in the Highlands. It was vetoed by the UK Government in March this year on national security grounds, a move that First Minister John Swinney described as leaving him “bewildered”.
However, speaking to The Press and Journal during a visit to Brussels this week, three prominent MEPs said they believed the UK Government had made the correct call, and warned against Scotland deepening its reliance on Chinese capital.
Seán Kelly, an Irish MEP who sits on the European Parliament’s energy committee, said he would have opposed Ming Yang’s involvement had the project been proposed in Ireland.
“I think there are huge strings attached to any Chinese investment,” he said. “We’ve seen that right across the world essentially.” Mr Kelly added that “scrupulous investigation” was required for any Chinese investment in energy or industry, and that the EU had previously been “naive” in its dealings with Beijing.
Terry Reintke, the German MEP who leads the Greens in the European Parliament, said she supported an expansion of renewables over further North Sea oil and gas licences, but only if this did not come at the cost of dependency on China. Germany spent years reliant on Russian gas before the invasion of Ukraine prompted a rethink of its energy strategy.
“In the past we have made substantial mistakes,” she told The P&J. “China is not a functioning democracy. We have to be aware of this. And in order to be more sovereign, and in order to build a Europe that can depend on itself, we have to be much more vigilant when it comes investments like this.”
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French socialist MEP Christophe Clergeau said the legislation was intended to restrict Chinese involvement in European industry altogether, citing Ming Yang as a case in point. “I do not see any argument to see any Chinese plant in Europe,” he said, adding that Chinese investment tended to favour short-term gain over long-term industrial development, and that “we must control our production of renewables.”
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