Peter Mandelson, who stepped down as British ambassador to the United States over controversy about ties with U.S. child sex abuser Jeffrey Epstein, is now engulfed in allegations of links to China's military.
On the 19th, the U.K.'s Daily Mail said, "New questions are being raised about Mandelson," noting, "It has emerged that a corporations suspected of links to China's military was the biggest client of his lobbying firm."
Citing leaked documents, the outlet reported that Global Counsel, the lobbying firm founded by Mandelson, generated more than 3.5 million pounds (about 7 billion won) in revenue from Chinese biotech corporations WuXi AppTec in 2024–2025.
WuXi AppTec was included earlier this year in an updated document for the U.S. Department of defense's list of Chinese military-related corporations (Section 1260H), but the document was withdrawn immediately after its release. The company said, "We are not owned or controlled by, and have no association with, the Chinese military or government agencies."
In addition, according to a U.K.-China Transparency (UKCT) report, Global Counsel also represented an attempt to replace the board of a British microchip corporations acquired in 2020 by the Chinese private equity fund Canyon Bridge.
Ian Duncan Smith, a politician from the U.K. Conservative Party, told the Daily Mail, "Global Counsel advised and assisted corporations that could threaten British corporations and national defense," adding, "Keir Starmer could not have been unaware of this."
Meanwhile, Global Counsel halted operations earlier this year after past ties between Mandelson and Epstein came to light.