Fresh hopes have been raised that Donald Trump will oppose Britain’s surrender of the Chagos Islands as he lines up two critics of the deal to crucial positions.
The President-Elect last night handed the key post of National Security Adviser to Mike Waltz, hailing the former Green Beret as an ‘expert on the threats posed by China, Russia, Iran, and global terrorism’.
The Florida Congressman has previously warned against the Chagos Islands being handed to an ally of China given that they are home to a crucial Anglo-American military base on Diego Garcia.
‘Should the UK cede control of the Chagos to Mauritius, I have no doubt that China will take advantage of the resulting vacuum,’ the Florida congressman told the Biden administration two years ago when negotiations first began.
‘I urge you to work with your UK counterparts to ensure that our countries retain control of Diego Garcia, as well as make certain that China is prohibited from militarising any of the other islands in the Chagos Archipelago.’
Meanwhile, Mr Trump is predicted to appoint Senator Marco Rubio, another China hawk from Florida, as his Secretary of State.
He has previously described the Chagos deal as ‘concerning as it would provide an opportunity for communist China to gain valuable intelligence on our naval support facility in Mauritius’.
The likely appointments have raised fresh hopes that the Trump administration will force Labour to reconsider the controversial handover, which was announced last month just weeks after former Tony Blair adviser Jonathan Powell was brought in to restart talks.
Under the deal, which must be ratified in a treaty and voted through by Parliament, Britain will cede sovereignty of British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) to Mauritius but the US-UK military base on Diego Garcia will remain operational for at least 99 years.
Last night Shadow Armed Forces Minister Mark Francois told the Mail: ‘When Labour announced the Chagos deal – outside of the Commons – they repeatedly stressed it had the support of President Biden but it now appears President-Elect Trump may take a very different view on the matter.
‘Parliament must now urgently debate this issue, especially as it appears the so-call deal has not actually been signed.’
A Chagos citizens’ group is also hoping Mr Trump will intervene, while hundreds of Chagossians are due to protest against the deal in London on Tuesday evening.
Vanessa Calou, the co-head of the BIOT Citizens platform, told the Telegraph: ‘With the great victory of Donald Trump in the US election, the United States president-elect is a beacon of hope for the Chagossians population hoping that Donald Trump will stop the treaty UK Mauritius on BIOT and grant the indigenous of the Chagos the right to self-determination.’
In another embarrassment to ministers, the government in Mauritius with which it agreed the handover has lost its election.
Former No 10 adviser Henry Newman asked: ‘What does this say about Jonathan Powell and David Lammy’s strategy of getting a Chagos ‘deal’ done before the Mauritius elections? While seemingly ignoring events in the US.’