Nik Llewellyn

Solicitor 律师

[Lord (David) Alton @DavidAltonHL]

In 1965, Winston Churchill’s coffin was brought to Westminster Hall, where for 3 days his coffin rested on a catafalque surrounded by candles.  As a schoolboy I queued for several hours, with hundreds of thousands of others as we paid our respects. It was the  first time I went to Parliament.  

I remember being struck that, regardless of political allegiances, a nation was united in honouring the man who led Britain to victory over the Nazis.

By contrast, yesterday’s disgraceful vandalising of Churchill’s  statue in Parliament Square demonstrates a woeful lack of respect.

It also displays an extraordinary ignorance of how easily our liberties - the right to protest, to vote, to think for ourselves - would have been replaced by Hitler’s dictatorship if Churchill hadn’t succeeded in preserving our freedoms and democracy.

[Luke de Pulford @lukedepulford]

I am convinced that Peter Mandelson is at least part of the reason the UK did not impose tariffs on Chinese Electric Vehicles, when all our allies were doing it.

Here's him in 2024 at a BYD event. 👇

Another national scandal waiting to break. Anyone with info, pls reach out.

[賴清德Lai Ching-te @ChingteLai]

Jimmy Lai’s sentencing exposes the Hong Kong national security law for what it is—a tool of political persecution under China’s “one country, two systems” that tramples human rights & freedom of press. This abuse of judicial power must end. Taiwan calls for his immediate release.

[Melissa Chan @melissakchan]

Keir Starmer's beauty video of his trip to China from last week looks extra gross in the context of British citizen Jimmy Lai's 20-year Hong Kong sentence today, a case that his government has cravenly not prioritized.

[Luke de Pulford @lukedepulford]

Effectively a life sentence for Jimmy Lai.

For peacefully criticising the Chinese government.

Let that sink in.

The world needs to wake up. This is what your a dealing with - not a rational player on the world stage. A vindictive, regime of unchallengeable power

[Nathan Law 羅冠聰 @nathanlawkc]

Effectively a life sentence for upholding press freedom.

[Melissa Chen @MsMelChen]

Please bear in mind that China refused to allow PM Keir Starmer to travel to Beijing to meet with Xi unless he approved the new Chinese mega embassy in London.

To which he dutifully complied.

And not only was he snubbed and treated with disrespect when he was there, I suppose apart from London getting a Labubu flagship store, the deals he scored fell short of expectations.

In response to critics, he had promised that he would "raise the issue" of the political persecution of Jimmy Lai with the Chinese authorities. Note that this did not appear in the readout of his meetings with Xi at all.

So the direct result of Starmer's "respectful discussion" about Lai and other human rights issues is basically Beijing laughing in his face and slapping Jimmy Lai with a 20 years prison sentence today.

If only Starmer would prioritize Jimmy Lai as much as he prioritized Alaa Abd El-Fattah

[Luke de Pulford @lukedepulford]

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) https://t.co/0NYBNPmiyO

Source: CICC Corporate: Lord Mandelson meets CICC Leadership (September 2019) https://t.co/l1Rp1NGWzS

🚩 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) https://t.co/LToLIddhNt

🚩 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 https://t.co/fVBUxw8AHC

Source: Sina News: Mandelson speaks at Sina Weibo Night - Boao Forum (2014) https://t.co/choUUuJzdP

🚩 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) https://t.co/oQkEqsfi5n

Source: CPIFA Official Site: Vice President Shi Ling Meets with Lord Mandelson (June 2023) https://t.co/yXYhEXyTib

Source: Great Britain-China Centre: Lord Mandelson and the China Law Society (July 2016) https://t.co/Va2nE3xuBN

🚩 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) https://t.co/ioqPbBbiWt

Source: Xinhua News: CPC delegation visits Britain led by Luo Dongchuan (October 2023) https://t.co/QmveiDGwsa

Source: International Liaison Department (IDCPC): Vice-minister Guo Yezhou Meets with Lord Mandelson (September 2019) https://t.co/7Q1QDkD5O2

Source: The Guardian: Manchester Consul General Zheng Xiyuan and Protest Violence (October 2022) https://t.co/wrxbCpzVG1

[Melissa Chen @MsMelChen]

Mandelson's downfall is truly a loss for the CCP, which invested heavily in cultivating him as a key asset within the British elite to advance its agenda over decades.

As Honorary President of the Great Britain-China Centre and a fellow of the 48 Group Club (a private elite network that functions as a conduit for CCP influence), Mandelson leveraged his positions to foster deep personal, commercial, and political ties with Beijing, including unreported advisory roles at state-linked firms like China International Capital Corporation (CICC) and meetings with high-ranking officials involved in transnational repression (see below).

Through his consultancy Global Counsel, Mandelson serviced Chinese state-owned enterprises, effectively drawing income from the CCP while advocating for UK participation in the Belt and Road Initiative. When Trump moved to restrict Huawei from buying US tech in his first term, Mandelson argued that criticisms of Huawei were "hysteria" driven by Trump's campaign of animus against China.

Yes, this is the man Starmer picked for US Ambassador.

British politicians and media are now seizing on his moral corruption as a friend of the heinous monster that is Jeffrey Epstein, but just as important is his political corruption which is laid bare in these files.

If you are wondering why so many of Starmer's actions as PM seem to align with the CCP's agenda, whether it comes to Chagos, the refusal to characterize China as a "threat" to Britain and therefore collapse a spy case, or the green lighting of a new China "mega embassy," you have to look deeper into Mandelson's record on China. Keeping a compromised stooge as a key political ally is a curious choice, unless of course, you share the same worldview.

[Luke de Pulford @lukedepulford]

For the avoidance of doubt, this is not a party political point. Labour was very strong in opposition - stronger than Conservatives. The problem, obviously, is what happens when people get into government. Don’t think anyone can credibly argue that this isn’t a 180 + that’s sad.

[Kevin Yam 任建峰 @kevinkfyam]

The last time a British Prime Minister was f***ed like this on a China visit was John Major when, under pressure from Beijing over various Hong Kong handover issues and on the advice of China sycophant bureaucrat Percy Cradock, he became the first Western leader post-Tiananmen Square Massacre to visit China. Major was made to be greeted by the Chinese military at Tiananmen Square (imagine the optics at that time!) and to sign a number of agreements that were climbdowns for the British.

Major came away from that trip so pissed off and humiliated that it contributed to him later appointing Chris Patten as Hong Kong’s last Governor and mostly backing Patten in his fights with Beijing.

I doubt this latest China trip will have the same impact on Starmer, however.

[Nik Llewellyn @llewell9]

@TheRealSambora Strength and love to you Richie. Lord knows you’ve delivered it to me and thousands of others through your music over the years. Stay strong and stay you brother.

[Melissa Chen @MsMelChen]

Whatever the Art of the Deal is, Starmer just achieved the opposite:

Keir Starmer's grand diplomatic adventure to Beijing was the international relations equivalent of trading your family silver for a couple of discount vouchers and a free trip to Shanghai Disneyland.

Britain hands over approval for Europe's largest spy hub - a sprawling mega embassy plonked right in the heart of London, practically overlooking the Tower and some rather sensitive data cables. And in return? China graciously agrees to delay the sale of a few outboard motor spare parts to people-smuggling gangs (because nothing says "stopping the boats" like politely asking traffickers to wait a bit longer on engine repairs).

Meanwhile, the UK scores:

> Whisky tariffs slashed from 10% to 5% - cheaper Scotch for the Chinese market, which helps to drown their sorrows given the state of the Chinese economy

> Visa-free travel for Brits up to 30 days - finally, we can pop over to Beijing for a weekend without paperwork, escaping a surveillance state where you can get arrested for tweets to one where you can get disappeared forever for tweets

> A feasibility study for a services trade deal - the diplomatic version of "let's maybe think about maybe dating sometime." This is like Lagarde's SWOT analysis of how to make Europe stronger

> And 12 whole memorandums of understanding - that's right, paperwork on everything from food safety to green energy. Truly the stuff of economic revolutions.

Bold move, Sir Keir - thanks for trading British sovereignty and security for tariff relief on Scottish whisky, easier holidays and a promise that the bad guys might not get boat parts quite so quickly.

[Nik Llewellyn @llewell9]

This is interesting and is emblematic of how the CCP views the UK. The CCP mouthpiece uses “您” when speaking of Xi (the formal way of saying “you” when speaking to, for eg, your superior) but uses “你” (the less formal “you”) when speaking of Starmer.

[李老师不是你老师 @whyyoutouzhele]

1月29日，在关于英国首相斯塔默访华的通报中
新华社动用了一些汉语小巧思，体现出习近平和斯塔默之间的“尊卑有序，长幼有别”

[Lord (David) Alton @DavidAltonHL]

Lawyer @keir_starmer should respect the legal challenge to the CCP mega embassy and before he travels to meet CCP leaders he should publish the letter which appears to have improperly confirmed consent for the mega embassy before the planning process began. Better still, he should scrap the China visit and scrap the mega embassy. Telegraph report today

[Nik Llewellyn @llewell9]

When China policy looks incoherent/self-harming, it isn’t naivety. Politicians understand risks. The problem’s incentives. Many senior MPs maintain links with groups like the 48 Group Club, a network criticised for its proximity to CCP influence efforts. Transparency & scrutiny?

[Mary Harrington @moveincircles]

- Chinese super-embassy given the nod despite MI5 warning about security
- China spy trial collapses due to government obstruction
- British Overseas Territories handed to ally of China, in defiance of all common sense

It's almost like something iffy is going on

[Melissa Chen @MsMelChen]

Starmer is part of the 48 Group Club, as was Cameron and Blair.

Look it up. It’s not *just* a trading group.

It grooms British elites in government and business and turns them into vectors of Chinese influence. No other British group enjoys more intimacy and trust with the CCP leadership

https://t.co/58NWAv7li0

[Sky News @SkyNews]

BREAKING: MI5 warns it is 'not realistic' to eliminate 'every potential risk' linked to China's new London embassy

https://t.co/o8WCWrndYU

📺 Sky 501, Virgin 602, Freeview 233 and YouTube

[Luke de Pulford @lukedepulford]

#BREAKING @GovUK GREEN-LIGHTS 🇨🇳 MEGA EMBASSY.

*The only way to stop this now is judicial review.*

⚠️ Please help residents reach their 150k target to fight this in the courts👇

https://t.co/n5rXXRQxOz

[Sky News @SkyNews]

"We stand at a very dangerous crossroads."

Life peer Lord David Alton says it's amazing the government would want to be 'so out of step with our allies' to approve plans for a Chinese 'super embassy'.

https://t.co/1wRZSyYQCJ

📺 Sky 501, Virgin 602, Freeview 233 and YouTube