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Luke de Pulford Profile picture
Luke de Pulford
@lukedepulford
Co-Founder, Executive Director: Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China. Personal account. DMs open.
Feb 5 • 5 tweets • 9 min read
I have decided to make public the key information we sent to Congress and the UK Government on #Mandelson's links to China.

When this @ipacglobal work was leaked to media in Jan 2025, it was reported as a "dossier", which was flattering. It's all open source material available on the Chinese internet (credit to @chungchingkwong for her research).

TLDR: the firm Mandelson led had Chinese state owned companies as clients. Ergo: Mandelson was being paid by the CCP party-state.

This was known long before he took up the post in Feb 2025, and all information open sourced and readily available. It was also the case while he was President of the government-funded Great Britain China Centre (which I note has not made a statement about Mandelson).

MANDELSON AND CHINA - SUMMARY

🚩 Business Interests and State-Owned Enterprise Clients

Through his strategic consultancy, Global Counsel, Lord Mandelson has maintained close ties with PRC state-owned enterprises. In March 2014, Mandelson expressed his desire for Global Counsel to provide "quality services" to SOEs to improve their international competitiveness during a meeting with Huang Shuhe, Deputy Director of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC). This commitment was reiterated in 2019 during meetings with the leadership of China International Capital Corporation (CICC).

Source: SASAC Official Archive: Deputy Director Huang Shuhe meets Lord Mandelson (2014) sasac.gov.cn/n2588025/n2588…

Source: CICC Corporate: Lord Mandelson meets CICC Leadership (September 2019) cicc.com/en/news/2019/0…

🚩 Unreported Advisory Roles

Evidence suggests Mandelson may have served as an advisor to the China International Capital Corporation (CICC) as early as 2013, a role that does not appear on his official House of Lords Register of Interests. In February 2013, he was explicitly identified as a "CICC advisor" during a meeting with the Chairman of China Railway Materials Corporation (CRMC).

Source: Railway Purchasing and Logistics Journal via Baidu Xuesu (ISSN: 1673-7121) xueshu.baidu.com/usercenter/pap…

🚩 High-Level Diplomatic and Economic Engagements

Mandelson is a frequent participant in summits that align with Beijing’s economic narrative. He has consistently attended the China Development Summit (2021, 2023) and the Boao Forum for Asia (2012–2018), often meeting with high-ranking officials to discuss cooperation between European entrepreneurs and the Chinese government.

Source: China Development Forum Official Site: Mandelson at the 2023 Annual Meeting cdrf.org.cn/en/cdf/news/60…

Source: Sina News: Mandelson speaks at Sina Weibo Night - Boao Forum (2014) finance.sina.com.cn/hy/20140410/22…

🚩 Ties to CCP-Linked Organisation and Institutes

Mandelson maintains regular contact with united front linked organisations and others that serve the Chinese state's strategic agenda, including:

Center for China and Globalization (CCG): A united front organisation putatively serving the "Belt and Road" initiative, but in reality doing much more than that. Mandelson has engaged in public dialogues with CCG Chairman Wang Huiyao.

Institute of European Studies (CASS): A national research institute specialising in "great power strategy."

Chinese People’s Institute of Foreign Affairs (CPIFA): An entity dedicated to "making friends for the sake of the country" and promoting the CCP's narrative.

Source: CCG Official Dialogue Record: Wang Huiyao’s Dialogue with Peter Mandelson (2021) en.ccg.org.cn/archives/64860

Source: CPIFA Official Site: Vice President Shi Ling Meets with Lord Mandelson (June 2023) cpifa.org/en/article/2462

Source: Great Britain-China Centre: Lord Mandelson and the China Law Society (July 2016) gbcc.org.uk/2016/09/09/vis…

🚩 Engagements with CCP Officials

Mandelson has met with many high-ranking CCP figures, some of whom are linked to controversial state activities:

Liu Jianchao: Head of the International Liaison Department and former leader of "Operation Fox Hunt" and "Skynet," programs associated with transnational repression.

Luo Dongchuan: Deputy Secretary of the Fujian Provincial Party Committee (October 2023).

Zheng Xiyuan: The former Consul General in Manchester, who left the UK after assaulting a Hong Kong protestor. Mandelson invited Zheng to a university reception shortly prior to this incident.

Source: International Liaison Department (IDCPC): Liu Jianchao Meets with Peter Mandelson (June 2023) idcpc.org.cn/english2023/bz…

Source: Xinhua News: CPC delegation visits Britain led by Luo Dongchuan (October 2023) english.news.cn/20231027/a4d38…

Source: International Liaison Department (IDCPC): Vice-minister Guo Yezhou Meets with Lord Mandelson (September 2019) idcpc.gov.cn/english2023/ll…

Source: The Guardian: Manchester Consul General Zheng Xiyuan and Protest Violence (October 2022) theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/o…Image
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Jan 29 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
Important to be clear about this (and I take no pleasure in emphasising the UK’s failings on the international stage):

1. Starmer made major concessions to get this visit. Mega-embassy etc
2. He returns *without a single signed deal*. Not one. Extraordinary. Even Carney came back with some MOUs.
3. Starmer went on a tour of the Forbidden City. The place had not been cleared of people. He was accompanied by just a tour guide. Does anyone at the @FCDOGovUK know how much of a slight this was? The Chinese put a huge amount of effort into signalling importance through protocol. This was not an accident. It was intended to communicate something.
4. Then there’s the below, which is worth translating if you can. In their report on the Xi/Starmer readout, Chinese state media is laden with soft condescension of the UK. Xi uses the peer-to-peer version of “you”, but Starmer uses the version “you” intended for an inferior to a superior. An insult.

Summary of this visit: gave a lot, got nothing. What do you notice? Image
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Mar 17, 2025 • 11 tweets • 4 min read
I've kept a 5-year silence about 🇬🇧 scientific establishment and COVID-19 origins.

I now find the conclusion unavoidable that, with @WHO and others, there was a concerted effort to suppress the lab-leak theory to deflect attention from Beijing.

🧵

dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1… 1. Sir Jeremy Farrar, key figure in the scientific community's response to C-19, was worried about China being blamed for the virus. Discussions about the geopolitical implications of C-19 origins were ongoing between scientists at the time.

In his own words: Image
Jan 10, 2025 • 8 tweets • 3 min read
As the Chancellor @RachelReevesMP touches down in Beijing, two lines are being used:

1️⃣ We need the money
2️⃣ We need China to defeat climate change

I can’t believe how little scrutiny these lines have received.

So, first: is China going to rescue the UK economy? 🧵 Image Let’s look at the evidence. The UK consistently runs a trade deficit with China (around 30-40 bn). We run a very slight (much smaller) surplus in services. @GovUK figures:
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Dec 23, 2024 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
Musk is on a collision course with the 🇺🇸 Legislative Branch, and much of the incoming Trump admin over China.

Musk on Taiwan:

“…like Haiwaii, an integral part of China which is arbitrarily not a part of China” The Hill just reported allegations from Democrats that Musk killed a bipartisan effort to screen US investments into China. thehill.com/business/50517…Image
Sep 9, 2023 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
#BREAKING BRITISH MAN ARRESTED UNDER THE OFFICIAL SECRETS ACT ON SUSPICION OF ACTING ON BEHALF OF THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA IN THE UK PARLIAMENT.

Breathtaking @cazjwheeler scoop:

thetimes.co.uk/article/britis… This is an extremely serious case - a major escalation in Beijing’s overseas influence operations. There are obviously questions to answer, and a full public inquiry should follow, together with major improvement in security offered to MPs who have bravely confronted Beijing.
Mar 13, 2023 • 13 tweets • 5 min read
Problem with the Integrated Review section on 🇨🇳 isn’t the language (which has much to recommend it).

There’s some nice sounding stuff in there eg: The problem is that there isn’t much we can elevate to what Robert Kennedy called the “dignity of policy”.

Let’s dig a bit.
Dec 17, 2022 • 15 tweets • 6 min read
China and @elonmusk: a thread Tesla posted over 5bn in revenue from China in Q3 of 2022 alone. China represents over 20% of Tesla’s turnover.

But Musk’s interests in China aren’t just about now…

seekingalpha.com/news/3894251-t…
Dec 14, 2022 • 5 tweets • 3 min read
‼️#BREAKING the Chinese Consul General who assaulted #BobChan has returned to China together with other diplomats.

Thank you @MPIainDS @Afzal4Gorton @aliciakearns + others Politico report here:
May 28, 2022 • 9 tweets • 4 min read
#BREAKING Human Rights chief ⁦@mbachelet⁩ “unable” to assess #Uyghur human rights abuses, frames them in the context of “anti-terrorism” and “de radicalisation” measures (which they aren’t). Wow. It’s very clear which questions have been provided to @mbachelet in advance. She is reading from a script in response to PRC state media questions. Shocking.
Jun 4, 2021 • 19 tweets • 6 min read
The @TribunalUyghur is starting soon. In his introduction, Sir Geoffrey Nice reveals that two advisory lawyers and one witness withdrew from the Tribunal as a result of sanctions placed upon the Tribunal by the PRC.
Jun 3, 2021 • 8 tweets • 4 min read
#TiananmenSquare

Never forget. 🕯

Thread of some of the reports from 4th and 5th June, 1989. First, @MSNBC The seminal Kate Adie @BBCNews report:
Apr 3, 2021 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
Absolutely disgraceful. Police shut down Good Friday service in Polish Church, Balham yesterday.

“I appreciate that it is Good Friday, and you’d like to worship, but this gathering is unlawful” Find me a scene that better expresses the worst aspects of modern Britain that a policeman traipsing onto the Sanctuary on the most solemn day of the Christian year threatening people with fines for going to church a day after zero COVID deaths were reported in London.
Mar 3, 2020 • 17 tweets • 3 min read
Some actually useful COVID-19 advice from James Robb, MD FCAP one of the first molecular virologists in the world to work on coronaviruses. This is being circulated by NHS doctors. I found the 2nd section on what to stock useful (so I’m sharing). 1) NO HANDSHAKING! Use a fist bump, slight bow, elbow bump, etc.
2) Use ONLY your knuckle to touch light switches. elevator buttons, etc.. Lift the gasoline dispenser with a paper towel or use a disposable glove.
Feb 3, 2020 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
Wow. Last Governor of Hong Kong, Chris Patten, not mincing his words tonight.

Here he is on China’s claim that the Sino-British Joint Declaration is a “historic document”.

#StandwithHK
#AshdownMemorialLecture On police violence:

“Ms. Lam’s government, wearing Beijing’s handcuffs, has put the police service in a position where with clearly irresponsible leadership it has fallen so far below its former standards.”