BEIJING, Oct 17, 2024 (AFP) :
British Foreign Secretary David Lammy will visit China this week, Beijing said Thursday, as the two countries seek to mend ties frayed by a security crackdown in Hong Kong and human rights concerns.
“David Lammy, Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs of the UK, will pay an official visit to China from October 18 to 19,” Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said in a statement.
The visit will mark the first by a senior British official since the election of Prime Minister Keir Starmer in July.
Ahead of the trip, Starmer called for the jailed tycoon Jimmy Lai to be freed from prison in Hong Kong, as the pro-democracy campaigner faces trial in the former British colony.
Britain has been critical of China’s crackdown on press freedom and protests in Hong Kong, which has strained diplomatic ties.
Last week, Lai’s legal team told reporters in London that they hoped Lammy would put Lai’s case “front and centre” during his visit.
“China and the UK are both permanent members of the UN Security Council and major world economies,” Mao told a regular briefing Thursday following the announcement of Lammy’s visit.
“The long-term stable development of bilateral relations accords with the common interests of both countries,” she said.
On democratic Taiwan, which China claims, Starmer also said this week that huge military drills were “not conducive to peace and stability” in the Taiwan Strait.
He also called on Beijing to lift sanctions imposed on a string of UK lawmakers.
Hawkish MPs who have spoken out against China’s crackdown on freedoms in Hong Kong, alleged abuses of the Uyghur minority, and claims of Chinese espionage and nefarious influence in the UK have found themselves sanctioned in recent years.
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