Beijing is crying foul after the British government seized control of the Scunthorpe steelworks, a facility previously owned by China’s Jingye Group.
The UK government, now footing a bill of over £1 million a day to keep the failing plant operational, claims the move is a necessary step to safeguard a 'vital national capability.' China’s commerce ministry responded with predictable indignation, accusing London of 'forcibly' taking control and infringing on the 'legitimate rights and interests' of Chinese investors.
While the UK government insists it remains open to Chinese investment, it acknowledged that negotiations with Jingye failed to produce a deal that offered value to the British taxpayer.
The plant, which loses hundreds of thousands of pounds daily, is now under state control, with officials promising an independent valuer will determine if any compensation is owed to the Chinese owners—a figure that could ultimately be zero.
As the UK prepares for a transition in leadership, the incoming administration faces the difficult reality of managing a money-pit industry that the government admits it does not want to run in the long term.
For now, taxpayers are on the hook for the daily losses of a facility that remains the only site in the UK capable of producing virgin steel, a strategic dependency the government is desperate to avoid losing to foreign reliance.
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