Keir Starmer has insisted the UK will continue to “engage and co-operate” with China despite the Prince Andrew spying row.
It emerged last week that the prince had formed a friendship with a Chinese businessman subsequently accused of spying in the UK.
The man, named on Monday as Yang Tengbo, has been banned from the country on national security grounds.
The row is potentially embarrassing for Starmer, who is seeking to improve relations between Britain and China, and who became the first PM in six years to meet with Chinese president Xi last month.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves is also due to visit Beijing in January to boost the UK’s economic ties with China.
Speaking in Norway this morning, Starmer admitted “we are concerned about the challenge that China poses”.
But he insisted that the spying row would not prevent him from working with China in the future.
He said: “Our approach is one of engagement, of co-operating where we need to co-operate, particularly on issues like climate change, to challenge where we must and where we should, particularly on issues like human rights and to compete when it comes to trade.
“That’s the strategic approach that we have set out as a UK government.”
The PM’s comments raised concerns that the government is putting economic interests above national security concerns.
Former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith, a leading critic of China, said the case of H6 was just the “tip of the iceberg” and that the government should treat the country as a “threat” to the UK.
He told Radio 4′s Today programme: “The reality is that there are many, many more involved in exactly this kind of espionage that’s taking place.
“The reality for us is very simple – China is a very clear threat.”
The PM’s official spokesman said: “Upholding national security and public safety is the first duty of government. We have robust measures in place to protect the UK from state threats.”
The High Court lifted restrictions around the alleged spy’s moniker this afternoon.
It comes after a minister warned MPs not to use parliamentary privilege to name the figure, previously known as H6, in the House of Commons.
Local government minister Jim McMahon told Times Radio: “We do have a parliamentary privilege and that should be exercised with caution and the overriding public interest has to be maintained, of course.”
He continued: “The identity of the person is, of course, known to the authorities and that is in hand, that is being dealt with. So for those who are coming to parliament with the intention of naming, they would need to be able to explain where the public interest is in that context.”