Labour’s new Foreign Secretary David Lammy visited China recently, becoming only the second foreign secretary to do so in six years. The lack of extensive media coverage contrasts with the party’s rhetoric about “Britain being back” on the global stage post-election. Lammy met with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, and Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang in Beijing before travelling to Shanghai to speak with British business leaders on the weekend. There were no announcements about trade agreements or shared policies regarding anything as the visit was a low-key affair, in part due to Downing Street’s caution and concern about a political crisis developing before the upcoming Budget presentation later this month.
Many British politicians are China-sceptic and accuse Mr Lammy of breaking pre-election promises to push the International courts to declare China’s treatment of Uighur minorities as genocide. For now, Labour has a holding policy, “challenge, compete, cooperate”, aimed at China, but it is still in the midst of conducting an audit of the UK’s relationship with it, which will only be complete by next year, meaning the Prime Minister may visit China only then.
Ken McCallum, the head of MI5, warned of “a threat that manifests at scale” from China aimed at the UK’s information system and democracy last week. Meanwhile, Mr Lammy’s main goal during his visit was merely to re-establish some kind of working relationship with Beijing. Mr Lammy spoke of his aspiration for a more consistent and practical partnership with Beijing, something he hopes is fruitful for both sides – mutually beneficial cooperation on climate, energy and nature, technology, trade, and investment, development, and health. Mr Wang concurred, expressing his willingness to work with London towards pragmatic solutions to complex challenges. The relationship is standing at “a new starting point”, he said.
China, however, still continues to have different perspectives on specific issues, and the UK is yet to draw the line between challenging, competing, and cooperating with regards to China. But as the UK’s fourth-largest trading partner, there is a significant emphasis on rebuilding the relationship for economic growth
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