China warns UK over Hinkley Point nuclear power project

China's ambassador to the UK has warned that the Hinkley Point nuclear power plant represented a ''crucial historical junction'' for relations between the UK and China, which held a minority stake in the £18-billion ($24 billion) project.

In an opinion piece published in Tuesday's Financial Times, Liu Xiaoming, said the cancellation of the plant could affect trade with the UK's second-largest trading partner outside Europe.

Commentators say the observation with some sharp undertones comes as prime minister Theresa May's government considered the UK's first nuclear reactors in over 20 years.

''Mutual trust is the very foundation on which bilateral cooperation is built,'' Liu said.

Hinkley Point, designed to replace legacy atomic plants and help the UK meet carbon-reduction targets, had attracted much criticism over its expense.

The project had been approved by Electricite de France SA, the French utility leading the project, at a board meeting last month, but the UK government said that it needed more time to think, delaying the final investment decision until September.

Nick Timothy, May's chief of staff, in a blog post written last year, exposed additional concerns about energy security. He warned that involvement by Chinese partners in the project could allow them to shut the UK's electricity production at will.

Meanwhile, the ruling Socialist Party of French president Francois Hollande said yesterday that the Hinkley Point nuclear project in UK was a risk to the survival of state-owned utility EDF and that all doubts about the project needed to be cleared up before it continued.

The party, which had earlier been pro-nuclear, said in a statement on its website that the utility's decision to go ahead with the £18 billion pound project  was a cause for concern.

"The Socialist Party believes that a project that is so important that it could jeopardize the solidity and survival of the national energy company requires that all doubts and hesitations be cleared up before the project continues," the party said.