Britain, China strike conciliatory note during top diplomat’s visit

BEIJING/LONDON (Reuters) – China and Britain took steps towards further reconciliation on Friday, with Beijing heralding the new Labour government’s plan to develop “pragmatic” bilateral ties as a “new starting point”.

British Foreign Secretary David Lammy is only the second top UK diplomat to visit China in six years, and his trip seeks to demonstrate that Britain is taking a strategic approach to building ties with Beijing, despite areas of sharp disagreement.

“China-Britain relations … now stand at a new starting point,” Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi said during a meeting with his counterpart at Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing. “Competition among major powers should not be the backdrop of this era.”

Lammy mentioned scope for “mutually beneficial cooperation” in areas such as climate, energy, science, trade and tech, while cautioning that Britain would “always put its national interests and national security first”.

Beijing and London should “show that countries such as ours with different histories and outlooks still find pragmatic solutions to complex challenges,” he said.

The Labour government, elected in July, wants to show it is serious about engaging with China, balancing a desire to cooperate on economic and global matters with challenging Beijing on issues like its support for Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Wang said that Beijing judged Labour’s new model for developing relations as “positive” because it “conforms to … the current needs of the bilateral relationship.”

China agreed to fully resume dialogue and cooperation in various fields, a foreign ministry statement said. Britain described the meeting as constructive, and said both sides committed to keeping an open dialogue.

A foreign office statement said Lammy also urged Wang to do more to prevent Chinese companies from supplying Russia’s military.

Earlier this year, Britain said it was extremely concerned after Reuters reported that Russia has established a weapons programme in China to develop and produce long-range attack drones for use in the war against Ukraine.

Lammy met with Wang and Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang, responsible for science and technology, in Beijing. He will travel to Shanghai to meet British businesses operating in China on Saturday.

Britain’s relations with China under the previous government were soured by clashes over human rights, Hong Kong and allegations of Chinese espionage.

Sebastien Lai, the son of jailed pro-democracy activist and British citizen Jimmy Lai, told Sky News he hoped Lammy had made it clear that “it is impossible to normalise the relationship if they still have a British national that’s imprisoned for standing up for freedoms that underpin our democracy”.

Jimmy Lai was arrested in 2020 for fraud and involvement in protests and, following delays, is now facing trial for sedition and collusion with foreign forces. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said securing Lai’s release is a “priority”.

Britain has made major shifts in its approach towards China in the past decade, moving from saying it wanted to be China’s greatest supporter in Europe to being one of its fiercest critics, and now trying to improve relations under the new Labour government.

The Labour administration has commissioned a government-wide audit of the UK-China relationship and has said it would be “clear-eyed” when it comes to China, given allegations of Chinese cyber hacking as well as espionage on British soil.

China faces worsening relations with the European Union over various trade issues, as well as fractious ties with the United States. China is Britain’s sixth-largest trading partner, accounting for 5% of total trade, British government figures show.