Liz Truss has repeatedly warned that under her leadership, the UK will take a hard line against China - suggesting it would be treated in a similar way to Russia.
So it came as a surprise for eagle-eyed visitors at the Conservative Party Conference that Truss merchandise on sale to the party faithful was imported from.... China.
"What's wrong with British crockery?" asked a bemused attendee after spotting the £14.99 mug on the shelves at the International Convention Centre in Birmingham.
Just two years ago Ms Truss visited a pottery in Stoke-on-Trent - less than 50 miles away from the Birmingham conference centre - vowing to champion the British ceramics industry and praising its "reputation for quality".
Elsewhere Conservative Party-branded T-shirts had labels revealing that they were manufactured in Haiti and Honduras.
The pop-up merchandise store features a range of must-have items for hardcore Conservatives, including mugs in the shape of former Prime Ministers David Cameron, John Major and Theresa May.
But it was the Liz For Leader mug that particularly caught the eye.
A conference insider told The Mirror they were puzzled that a Prime Minister who promoted such a hard line against China would have imported her merch from across the globe.
In an infamous 2014 conference speech Ms Truss, then Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, rallied against the huge volume of food imports that could be produced in the UK.
"That is a disgrace," she passionately told delegates.
Ms Truss has repeatedly stressed she is on the side of British businesses, and pledged a change of direction in relations with Beijing with her at the helm.
The conference visitor told The Mirror: "Liz Truss made her name ranting about Chinese pork markets.
"Why is she paying the Chinese to make her mugs? What’s wrong with British crockery?"
The source added: "That is a disgrace."
On a visit in 2020, Stoke Live reported, Ms Truss vowed to champion the industry in trade talks, stating: “Ceramics is a very important industry. The British have a reputation for quality and I don’t think there is a better example of that than ceramics in Stoke-on-Trent.”
Ms Truss has repeatedly rallied against Chinese aggression, and hinted that she could treat it in a similar way to Russia.
A press release issued in August - during her bitter run-off against Rishi Sunak - said that she would update the government's integrated review, which sets out the UK's role in the world over the next decade.
The statement said: "As part of this, Truss would add a new and updated focus on China and Russia in the review.
"The Foreign Secretary believes the invasion of Ukraine and an increasingly assertive China demands a new approach to Britain’s security and global security, and more resources to meet the increased threat level."
It was the latest in a long line of statements suggesting she would not rule out ramping up hostility.
In April, he told an audience in the City of London: “Countries must play by the rules and that includes China".
The then-Foreign Secretary said Beijing was "rapidly building a military capable of projecting power deep into areas of European strategic interest" - and vowed to stand against it.
She stated: “By talking about the rise of China as inevitable, we are doing China’s work for it.
“In fact their rise is not inevitable. They will not continue to rise if they do not play by the rules.
“We have shown with Russia the kind of choices we’re prepared to make when international rules are violated.
"We’ve shown that we’re prepared to prioritise security and respect for sovereignty over short-term economic gain.”
And during the leadership contest in August, responding to Chinese aggression over Taiwan, said: “I instructed officials to summon the Chinese ambassador to explain his country’s actions.
"We have seen increasingly aggressive behaviour and rhetoric from Beijing in recent months, which threaten peace and stability in the region."
Tory HQ declined to comment on the mugs, or explain why Ms Truss had opted to use mugs made in China rather than go British.
