Exclusive-British Foreign Secretary Lammy to visit China in bid to reset ties, sources say

British Foreign Secretary David Lammy speaks at the Ministerial Meeting on Transforming Humanitarian Response for the 21st Century in New York City, U.S. September 23, 2024. BRYAN R. SMITH

BEIJING - Britain's Foreign Secretary David Lammy will visit China next week, sources familiar with the plan said, as the new Labour government seeks less confrontational ties with the world's second-largest economy and to resume trade and investment talks.

British officials have said they want to recalibrate many of the previous Conservative Party-led government's positions on China, which it described as an "epoch-defining challenge," particularly around accepting Chinese job-creating investment.

But Britain is unlikely to budge on issues such as Chinese firms' involvement in providing key infrastructure, human rights and restoring the licence of state broadcaster CGTN, as it is controlled by China's ruling Communist Party.

Lammy, who has vowed to overhaul Britain's ties with China, will meet Chinese officials in Beijing and representatives of British firms in Shanghai, two of the four sources, who all spoke on condition of anonymity, told Reuters.

His itinerary has not yet been finalised, however, another person familiar with the planning said.

A Foreign Office spokesperson said ministerial travel would be announced in the usual way.

China's foreign ministry said it could not offer any information on the visit, but added that it hoped to work with the UK "on the basis of mutual respect and win-win cooperation."

During a telephone call in August, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who took office the previous month, told Chinese President Xi Jinping their countries must be able to talk frankly about disagreements while pursuing closer economic ties and co-operation on global issues.

British finance minister Rachel Reeves is also considering travelling to China in the near future, said two sources.

Her visit will aim to revive trade and investment talks that are supposed to take place annually. The last round of the UK-China Economic and Financial Dialogue, as it is called, was held in 2019.

China is Britain's sixth largest trading partner, accounting for 5% of total trade, British government figures show.

But questions on Hong Kong, espionage accusations, and plans for a new Chinese embassy in London await resolution and may slow plans to resume talks and promises of fresh investment.

Last week, two Britons, including a former researcher for a senior British lawmaker, pleaded not guilty to a charge of spying for China.

That followed China's accusation in June that British foreign intelligence service MI6 recruited two staff members from unnamed state bodies to act as spies.

Beijing is also waiting for a go-ahead on plans to build a new embassy in London after they were thrown out on security grounds in December 2022.

In recent years, the two countries have also traded barbs on Hong Kong, a former British colony handed back to Beijing in 1997.

More than 180,000 people have moved to Britain from Hong Kong under a special visa programme set up in response to a crackdown on dissent in the Asian financial hub.

In September, a senior Labour lawmaker said Britain should outlaw imports of products made by forced labour in China's northwestern region of Xinjiang.

-(Reuters)