UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly is considering a visit to China next month, as Prime Minister Rishi Sunak tries to repair relations with Beijing.
(Bloomberg) — UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly is considering a visit to China next month, as Prime Minister Rishi Sunak tries to repair relations with Beijing.
Discussions are ongoing about a possible trip toward the end of July, according to people familiar with the plans. Another person confirmed discussions are ongoing while stressing that nothing has been confirmed. Politico reported earlier Wednesday that China had formally invited Cleverly to visit.
A UK official said any ministerial travel would be confirmed in the usual way, but pointed to Cleverly’s April comment to the Telegraph newspaper that a future trip to China was “almost inevitable.”
Cleverly’s potential visit comes as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken plans to make his own trip to China, as well as the UK, from June 16-21. Several Western nations are looking to resume high-level communications with China, even as tensions linger over everything from its human rights practices to Washington’s efforts to block Beijing’s access to key technology.
Sunak Tries to Fix China Ties Without Upsetting UK Hawks
Such a trip would highlight Sunak’s efforts to strike a balance between his need to maintain trade links with the world’s second-largest economy with calls at home to reduce ties with President Xi Jinping’s regime. Sunak and Cleverly have spoken of China as an “epoch-defining challenge” to its security, with the government recently accusing Beijing of running secret police stations in Britain.
Sunak is also attempting to steer the UK through a post-Brexit diplomatic landscape in which London can little afford to alienate Beijing. His approach has seen him come under pressure over increasingly skeptical views of China at home, especially in his own Conservative Party, where some lawmakers have urged a tougher line.
Sunak has in recent weeks sent a trade minister to Hong Kong while his envoy to the former British colony called for handling more disagreements with Beijing behind closed doors.
(Updates with UK official in third paragraph, Blinken dates in fourth)
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
©2023 Bloomberg L.P.