Senior UK lawmaker Tom Tugendhat has told the country’s Sky News network that China is looking to capitalise on the ongoing coronavirus crisis by, in particular, trying to wrestle control of the company Imagination Technologies.
“We’re seeing quite a lot of action by the Chinese state, or state-owned companies, that seem to be exploiting this moment”, Tugendhat, the chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, said, referring to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Companies like Imagination Technologies […] it’s been facing a rather hostile change in management in the last few weeks, which happened to coincide not just with the COVID crisis but also the prime minister [Boris Johnson] being taken into hospital and the Easter weekend”, he added.
Tugendhat also expressed alarm over US President Donald Trump’s recent move to suspend funding for the World Health Organisation (WHO), saying that “this is of course an important time for the WHO to be doing its job”.
At the same time, the lawmaker added that he understands POTUS’ own concerns “with the way that the WHO has failed to call out China or indeed recognise the [coronavirus fight-related] success that has been going on in Taiwan amongst other places".
Trump announced the decision on Tuesday, pledging that the US will conduct a review to cover the WHO's "role in severely mismanaging and covering up the spread of coronavirus”.
British MP Warns Against Moving Imagination Technologies' Base to China
Tugendhat’s remarks come a day after another British lawmaker, David Davis, called on London to prevent the removal of the technology base of Imagination Technologies to China.
“What we think is going on is the Chinese are trying to export the technology base [of Imagination Technologies] from here to China and that’s inappropriate”, he told Reuters on Tuesday, describing the UK-headquartered semiconductor and software design company as a strategic asset.
“It [the authorities] should probably try to bring about a purchase of it [Imagination Technologies] by somebody else in a Western country. The government should be seeking every mechanism available to them to prevent this removal of our technology - full stop”, he underscored.
The comments followed the resignation of the chip maker’s boss Ron Black who was replaced by Ray Bingham late last week amid reports that Black had earlier threatened to quit if Chinese investors continued attempts to take control of the company.
In 2017, Imagination Technologies was purchased by private equity firm Canyon Bridge which is in turn backed by Chinese state-run China Reform holding who has repeatedly tried to wrest control of the group.
