China carrying out biggest military build-up in peacetime history, says James Cleverly

Cleverly warns that if Beijing invaded Taiwan, it would destroy world trade

Foreign Secretary James Cleverly (Hannah McKay/PA) (PA Wire)

James Cleverly has said that failing to engage with China would be a “sign of weakness” in a speech setting out the government’s position on Beijing.

The foreign secretary said the UK must engage directly with the country in order to promote stability in a keynote address to the Lord Mayor’s Easter Banquet in London on Tuesday.

But he also said the UK must be “unflinchingly realistic” about Beijing’s authoritarianism, as he warned it against invading Taiwan.