No 10 WON’T ban China from the UK’s AI summit despite the arrest of a parliamentary researcher on suspicion of spying for Beijing

The arrest of a parliamentary researcher on suspicion of spying for China will not stop Beijing being invited to the UK’s upcoming artificial intelligence summit, No 10 hinted yesterday.

Despite calls to ban Beijing from attending the world-first summit this autumn, Downing Street insisted ‘we do need to be in the room arguing the case for the UK with China’ on issues such as AI.

MPs have urged Rishi Sunak to bar China from the summit in the wake of the Chinese spying allegations, saying inviting them would make Britain look ‘weak’.

Downing Street said yesterday that the Government would ‘robustly defend’ Britain’s democracy. 

But the Prime Minister’s official spokesman added: ‘We do need to be in the room arguing the case for the UK with China on issues like climate change, on issues like artificial intelligence, and that’s why it’s important we are making this case face-to-face.’

In November, Britain will host a major meeting of countries to discuss the risk of the rise in the technology and bid to agree on global safety measures.

The Prime Minister announced the summit amid fears AI’s rapid advancement meant current working practices and safeguards are already out of date.

Ministers are said to want to involve the Chinese due to the size of the country’s AI industry.

The Government has not confirmed China’s attendance at the AI summit, to be held at former Second World War codebreaking centre Bletchley Park in November, but has said the ‘global’ summit will bring together ‘key countries’.

No 10’s comments came after Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch refused to say whether China should be invited in the wake of the allegations. Asked whether Beijing should be blocked from attending, she told Sky News: ‘That’s a decision for the Prime Minister to take.’

Mrs Badenoch also said the UK ‘certainly should not be describing China as a foe’.

‘China is a country that we do a lot of business with. China is a country that is significant in terms of world economics. It sits on the UN Security Council,’ she said. 

‘We certainly should not be describing China as a foe but we can describe it as a challenge… I don’t think we should be careless in terms of how we speak about other countries when these sorts of things happen.’

And she suggested that designating China as a threat would ‘escalate things’. 

‘Whether or not you use words like threat I think is a reflection of how far you want to escalate things,’ she told Radio 4’s Today programme. 

‘China is the second largest economy in the world, it’s heavily integrated in our economy as it is with many of our allies… We’re taking the same approach that those countries are taking.’

Britain is a world leader in AI, ranking third behind the US and China. The technology contributes £3.7billion to the UK economy and employs 50,000 people.

The summit will consider the risks of AI and discuss how they can be mitigated through internationally co-ordinated action. 

The EU, US and Japan are reportedly pushing back against inviting China to the summit. But some MPs have urged ministers to ensure Beijing is present at the event.

Tory MP Mark Logan, vice-chairman of the all-party parliamentary committee on China, said it was ‘just silly to keep going down the hole of ‘let’s close up’ or not engage or influence what China is doing’.

Fellow Tory Bob Seely, a member of the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, said: ‘I don’t think we should sulk, I think we should continue to deal with people.’