China is behind some of the dirtiest oil rigs in the North Sea

Tim Lawton is a member of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China. Photo: Richard Townsend

Tim Loughton, Conservative MP for Worthing and Shoreham East, is calling for a «national audit» to find out the extent of Chinese interests and involvement in the UK economy, particularly in relation to strategic assets such as oil and gas.< Referring to China's involvement in the North Sea, he said: "This is completely unacceptable and goes a long way towards explaining why we are calling for a full review of exactly what interests the Chinese Communist Party has in the UK and how far its tentacles extend." .

“Energy security is a key government policy, and it is clear that sending large amounts of energy to a hostile state at this time is particularly bad policy.”

Mr Lawton is a member of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, a cross-party group of about 350 politicians from 33 countries seeking to reform democratic governments' approach to China.

Luke de Pulford, a spokesman for the group, said: «In a climate of opportunity conflict over Taiwan is looming, and we should reduce Beijing's influence over our critical infrastructure rather than turn a blind eye to their transparent efforts to create dependency.»

When contacted, a CNOOC spokesperson said, “CNOOC will not comment in response to your questions.”

However, CNOOC’s annual report states that the company is working to reduce flaring and achieve zero emissions: “Our goal — A further reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 10% by 2025 compared to the 2018 baseline.»

A government spokesman said it was working with all UK maritime operators to minimize the flaring of waste gases: » As with any industry, protecting our national security is always of paramount importance and NSTA has strict procedures for issuing North Sea oil and gas licenses.

“The UK remains one of the world's most attractive investment destinations, but also has one of the most reliable and secure energy systems in the world.

“Critical infrastructure investments are subject to the highest level of scrutiny and must comply with our stringent legal, regulatory and national security requirements.”