Western states must do more ‘to stop China buying up technology,’ ex-UK spy chief says

The West needs to do more to stop China buying up strategic technology, including companies such as British semiconductor chip designer Imagination Technologies, the former head of Britain’s MI6 foreign intelligence service, John Sawers, has said.

Sawers, the chief of the Secret Intelligence Service from 2009 to 2014, said on Thursday that China was seeking to expand its global clout, though it was not “the same existential threat” that the Soviet Union once was.

“Nevertheless, there is going to be deep rivalry over control of technology,” Sawers told Sky. “We have more to do in the West to make sure we are independent of China… We need to do more to protect Western technology from being bought up by Chinese companies.”

The UK government should invoke every mechanism to prevent the removal of the technology base of Imagination Technologies to China, including seeking a Western buyer for the company, British lawmakers have said, according to Reuters.