| There are alarm bells everywhere for David Lammy. The foreign secretary has already traveled to the US to court Donald Trump's team, a trip that some described as a proverbial Nixon to China moment given Lammy's previous remarks about the former president. Now he's heading to actual China to buddy up with an administration whose economic might could help the UK in its pursuit of growth. But at what cost? Our reporting team reveal that Chinese state actors have made "widespread – and likely successful – efforts to access British critical national infrastructure" and hackers have "probably compromised supply chains and computer systems key to vital services". Officials add privately: "The newer attacks were believed to have targeted defense and energy entities, government agencies and the National Health Service as well as private businesses focused on cutting edge technology." It's clear Britain's spooks are concerned – they don't normally detail the level of threat but our reporters write that they are considering telling the public more of the attacks.  Lammy at the UK Labour Party annual conference in Liverpool. Photographer: Hollie Adams/Bloomberg But Lammy does have a plan for China and it revolves around the 3 Cs: Challenge, compete and cooperate. Cooperate on threats to global security like climate change but challenge on human rights. The foreign secretary thinks this is clearer and braver than the previous government — but in reality it sounds fairly similar to former Foreign Secretary James Cleverly raising slave labor when visiting China. One eagle-eyed Bloomberg reporter found that after setting out his strategy earlier in the summer, Lammy only mentioned China once in his keynote speech at the Labour Party conference. At PMQs today, in one of his last appearances as opposition leader, Rishi Sunak quizzed Starmer about an apparent delay to the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme, something that would see lobbyists on behalf of foreign countries placed on a register. The PM insisted there hadn't been any delay but there are some suspicions it's getting another look over fears that it could curtail some business. We discussed those very tensions on this week's Voternomics podcast with Stephanie Flanders, Adrian Wooldridge and Ailbhe Rea. Steph had just interviewed the PM and wanted to know whether his government would welcome a listing by online fashion giant Shein. The retailer is accused of using slave labor in Xinjiang and its model of fast fashion is unlikely to sit comfortably with this government's climate agenda.  Keir Starmer during a Bloomberg Television interview on the sidelines of the International Investment Summit. Photographer: Hollie Adams/Bloomberg That's just one more plate to balance for Starmer, who sources say has been inundated with formal letters from ministers, complaining about the scale of the spending cuts that their departments may face in this month's Budget. Downing Street says it's just part of the process. Elsewhere, has Labour worked out the role it wants the Chinese to play in helping the transition to net zero? Right now, the UK stands alone in not imposing tariffs on Chinese EV imports. Labour may be hoping these cheaper EVs will help the UK's journey to net zero but it puts us at considerable odds with both the continent and the US. After all, overnight US presidential hopeful Donald Trump told Bloomberg's Editor-in-Chief John Micklethwait that "tariff" is the most beautiful word in the world (I laughed. A lot). But it's just one more reminder that the British government will have to worry about relations with the US just as much as with the Chinese. Want this in your inbox each weekday? You can sign up here. | 
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