David Lammy‚ Britains foreign secretary‚ is in China for a two-day visit thats seen as an effort to fix the relationship between the two countries. Its the first time a Cabinet minister has gone to China since the new government came in about three months ago
Lammy met with Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang on 10/18/24‚ and was set to talk with Foreign Minister Wang Yi later that day. The trip is trying to make things better after some rough patches in recent years. There have been worries about spying‚ Chinas backing of Russia in the Ukraine war‚ and tighter control in Hong Kong (which used to be run by Britain)
“We need to talk often and honestly about things we disagree on and things we can work together on for the UKs benefit“ Lammy said. He was planning to ask China to stop helping Russia in the war. This comes right after the US put sanctions on two Chinese companies yesterday‚ saying they helped Russia make drones for the war. China says thats not true
Lammy is also going to Shanghai to meet with UK business leaders. China‚ including Hong Kong is the UKs fourth-biggest trading partner
Human rights groups want Lammy to bring up Chinas actions in Hong Kong‚ Xinjiang‚ and Tibet. The UK government also wants to get Jimmy Lai out of jail – hes a British citizen whos been locked up in Hong Kong for almost 4 years and is facing a big trial next month
The trip shows that the UK is trying to balance working with China on some things while still bringing up problems – its a tricky balance to strike