For Charles Powell, China has always been a country Britain has had to deal with “very carefully”. Powell served as a private secretary to Margaret Thatcher during the final seven years of her premiership, a period which included Britain’s negotiations over the sovereignty of Hong Kong. He then served briefly under John Major, before moving into a long career in Sino-British relations, including chairing the China-Britain Business Council. Now he is 84 years old. Speaking to the New Statesman, he reflected on his half-century dealing with the Asian superpower.
“I spent a long time working on China, and I’ve witnessed it go through different phases,” he said. “At one stage, we used to believe that with economic development it would automatically become more democratic. Then we discovered that that wasn’t really the case. Unfortunately, even with greater prosperity and a much greater middle class, the political system remained very difficult to deal with, very tough on its own people. We always saw this as a country we have to deal with very carefully.”
While Powell certainly isn’t a hawk, he also has what he calls a “common-sense” approach to China. “One must deal with China, it’s absurd to think one can’t, it is a major power, and is vital to our economy too,” he said. “But equally, one doesn’t accord it the same status in our relationships as our close allies. So I don’t really go into the name calling and trying to define the difference between a challenge or a threat. I just follow the common-sense line that in some things we cooperate closely with China and in other things we’re very cautious.”
Few families have played a larger role in British diplomacy than Powell’s. Charles’s brother, Jonathan Powell, is the National Security Adviser. Earlier this week, US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff singled him out for his role in the Gaza ceasefire, praising his “incredible input and tireless efforts”. The American envoy’s comments came after US ambassador Mike Huckabee said it was “delusional” to suggest Britain had played a key role in the process. The praise couldn’t have come at a better time for Jonathan Powell, who has faced questions over whether he played a role in the collapse of a case against two men alleged to have spied on behalf of the Chinese intelligence services. (Both men continue to deny the charges.) The CPS announced it had dropped the case last month after the government was unable to provide evidence that China was a threat to the UK. No 10 has stood firmly behind Jonathan Powell, insisting he was not involved in any decisions about the evidence.
Charles said he had no knowledge of the case “beyond what I read in the newspapers”. However, he added: “Prosecutors make their own decisions, the whole point of our legal system is that they’re separate from government. Government can’t and shouldn’t direct them.” He said he was “reluctant” to answer any questions about the affair, lest it be interpreted as a comment on the case, but said: “Our laws are our laws and they should be obeyed. If they’re not obeyed then they should be prosecuted or punished. It is not at all clear whether the state of our laws at the time supported that or not.”
Powell is proud of his family’s contributions to foreign affairs, which includes his son Hugh’s career in the Foreign Office under David Cameron: “I can only assume we had reasonably satisfied employers”, he said. Indeed, he felt Witkoff’s praise for his brother was well-founded. “I thought it was certainly deserved, he is extremely bright, energetic, decisive… I’m sure he’s been helpful.” However, he was at pains to state that he did not discuss his brother’s work with him. “Having been in No 10 myself I know it’s much easier when you can say you haven’t talked to people than to admit you have.”
Between Tony Blair’s proposed role in the rebuild of Gaza, and Jonathan Powell’s hand in the negotiations, there has been much discussion in the past few weeks about Britain’s role on the world stage. Powell believes it is Britain’s history which allows it to punch above its somewhat diminished weight.
“Well I think it’s a combination of things, characterised by our whole history really, including our colonial history, going out into the world, discovering new parts of the world and working with many different nationalities in many different situations,” he said. “It’s in our bloodstream and that remains the case today. That will be the main reason. We don’t rely on, as it were, so much, on our voice in the world as we could once when we were a major power, but we’re still a significant power in the world. As I say, it’s a history and tradition which are very valuable.”
[Further reading: Chinese agents are hunting dissidents across Britain]
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