-- Chen Jiacun Yuwen, a special correspondent of this newspaper in United Kingdom
"The new United Kingdom government is eager to restart relations with China," a number of Western media outlets recently commented. According to Reuters and other media reports, United Kingdom Foreign Secretary Lamy may visit China this week. On the 14th, United Kingdom Prime Minister Starmer was asked about the visit in an interview with Bloomberg: "We will challenge when necessary, but we are also pragmatic and hope that our country can move forward and succeed." On the same day, United Kingdom's business and trade secretary Reynolds said that the former Conservative government had "done too little" in relations with China and that United Kingdom "needs more engagement with China"; The United Kingdom does not plan to follow the EU and will not impose tariffs on electric vehicles imported from China. Singapore's "Lianhe Zaobao" mentioned that the United Kingdom Labour Party won a landslide victory in the general election in July this year, ending the Conservative Party's 14-year consecutive rule, and firmly controlling Parliament, so that the United Kingdom political situation that has changed three prime ministers in the past five years tends to be stable. The United Kingdom will have a stable government in the next five years. Some analysts believe that the United Kingdom government has recently released a signal of "improving relations with China," and the tense atmosphere between China and Britain has eased to a certain extent, but the foreign policy of the United Kingdom has always been affected by United States aspects, and there are still differences between China and Britain on some issues.
United Kingdom's new government 'intent to correct the mistakes of the previous government'
Reuters reported on the 9th of this month, citing sources, that Lamy will visit China in the near future, and the new Labour government is seeking to repair the tension between the two sides over United Kingdom's accusations of "human rights violations and espionage" by China. United Kingdom officials have said the new government is intent on correcting the mistakes of its predecessor — that is, taking an overly confrontational stance toward Beijing, while also making clear that the two sides have fundamental differences in some areas. Rammy, who has vowed to overhaul the UK-China relationship, will meet with Chinese government officials in Beijing and meet with representatives of United Kingdom companies in Shanghai, sources said. The report also said that United Kingdom Chancellor of the Exchequer Reeves is also considering a recent visit to China to restart the China-UK economic and financial dialogue. The last round of the UK-China Economic and Financial Dialogue was held in 2019.
"United Kingdom Foreign Secretary Lamy plans to visit Beijing as early as this week, and analysts say the new [United Kingdom] government is eager to restart relations with the world's second-largest economy (China)." Nikkei Asia said on the 13th that the new United Kingdom government came to power in July this year, and the leaders of China and Britain had a telephone conversation in August to discuss areas of cooperation between the two sides. According to the report, in 2015, the relationship between Britain and China opened a "golden era", but at the end of the Conservative Party rule, the relationship between the two countries has deteriorated. Face-to-face meetings between senior officials are rare, and former Foreign Secretary Cleverly made a brief visit to Beijing in August 2023, the first visit to China by a United Kingdom foreign secretary in five years.
Yahoo News Network issued an article on the 14th that the new United Kingdom Labour government described the readjustment of relations with China as an "epoch-making challenge", Lamy's visit to China "marks a broader diplomatic shift", and United Kingdom's relationship with the world's second largest economy will change to a "less confrontational direction". "Voice of United States" commented on the 15th that Lamy's visit to China will be the visit of the highest-level official to China after the Labor government takes office, and is regarded as an important step in re-examining Britain-China relations. "As the date approaches, all parties will be closely watching the outcome of this visit. This will not only affect the future direction of the UK-China relationship, but will also have far-reaching implications for the global geopolitical landscape. ”
According to the observation of a special correspondent of the "Global Times" in United Kingdom, after the phone call between the leaders of China and Britain in August this year, the atmosphere in United Kingdom towards China has been significantly relaxed, the tone of hawks on China has been lowered, and some people who have been friends of China rarely seen in the past two years have begun to actively play an active role in various occasions, and people in the United Kingdom business circles have also called for pragmatic trade cooperation with China. In addition, the British media also mentioned a number of positive signals to China: Starmer appointed James ·Lyons, who has a TikTok background, as the head of strategic communications at 10 Downing Street; The United Kingdom welcomed Shein's listing in London after Chinese cross-border fast fashion platform Shein faced opposition from the US in seeking a New York listing; Ken ·McCallum, head of MI5 in United Kingdom, also said in a rare event a few days ago that "the UK-China economic relationship supports the growth of United Kingdom, which is the foundation of our security"; Maxweeney, the new chief of staff at 10 Downing Street, also said the United Kingdom government seeks to strengthen cooperation with Beijing on clean energy.
"We haven't seen the United Kingdom have seen such respect for China since 2019." The United Kingdom's "Spectator" magazine recently published an article saying that Lamy's visit should show the extent to which the Labor Party is ready to embrace Beijing. Labour is already conducting an audit of UK-China relations, with the aim of setting the general direction for the government as a whole, with the first results due soon. Nikkei Asia said Lamy's visit to China will provide the United Kingdom government with an opportunity to conduct "due diligence" and will provide a "solid understanding" of its China policy audit.
Trade Secretary: United Kingdom 'needs more engagement with China'
On the 14th, the international investment summit hosted by the United Kingdom government opened in London, which aims to attract global investment to boost the domestic economy. Speaking at the conference, Starmer said his Labour government would end United Kingdom's eight-year cycle of four prime ministers and six chancellors of the exchequer.
Starmer was interviewed by a Bloomberg reporter on the sidelines of the summit. The reporter raised the question of the timing of Lamy's visit to China and that "the United Kingdom government seems to want Shein to be listed in the United Kingdom." Starmer replied that he would not talk about individual businesses and that "we will strike a balance." "We do want to invest in the United Kingdom because we desperately need growth," he said. The United Kingdom economy has not grown meaningfully for 14 years. We are determined to reverse this situation. ”
"United Kingdom government is seeking to rebuild ties with China", United States the European edition of "Political News Network" reported that United Kingdom Minister of Commerce and Trade Reynolds said at the International Investment Summit on the 14th that compared with the level of contact between other G7 countries and Beijing in the past few years, United Kingdom is an "absolute outsider", "For example, our country's relationship with China is different from United States or other European countries". Reynolds also said that the United Kingdom does not plan to follow the EU in imposing tariffs on electric vehicles imported from China, because United Kingdom companies have not filed relevant complaints and asked the government to investigate. He stressed that the United Kingdom automotive industry is different from other European countries in that the UK side is "very export-oriented, with 80% of cars produced in the United Kingdom exported" and that "our main focus on this is to ensure that we have those thriving and open export markets".
Russia's satellite network recently issued an article saying that the United Kingdom government obviously hopes to achieve the goal of improving relations with China through Lamy's visit to China. The report quoted analysts as saying that United Kingdom is one of the countries most sensitive to changes in the international situation, which reflects United Kingdom's new judgment on the international situation. Britain and China have no fundamental conflict of interest, and the economy is highly complementary, and past tensions have largely stemmed from United Kingdom's dependence on US policy. Now that United Kingdom intends to change this direction, China will welcome this.
Economic and trade cooperation will be the focus
Many media analysts believe that the United Kingdom government seeks to improve relations with China, mainly considering the difficulties it faces in terms of economic growth. In terms of economic fundamentals, United Kingdom's gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 0.6% in the second quarter of this year. In July, the United Kingdom government's public debt reached around £2.7 trillion, or about 99.4% of GDP. According to a previous report released by the National Economic and Social Research Institute of the United Kingdom, according to the current government spending and tax plan, the budget deficit level will remain above 3% of GDP over the next five years, and the public debt will be about 100% of GDP. British media believe that it is unrealistic for United Kingdom to seek close economic ties with the EU in a short period of time, so United Kingdom has reason to seek other markets to promote growth.
Nikkei Asia reported on the 13th that the United Kingdom government's priority is to promote economic growth and increase public service revenues to make up for the 22 billion pound "black hole" left by the previous Conservative government. According to the report, there is room for growth in trade between the United Kingdom and China. According to the latest data from the United Kingdom's Department for Business and Trade, total trade between China and the UK fell 21.1% year-on-year to £86.5 billion in the last financial year to March this year, making China the United Kingdom's sixth largest trading partner.
"This seems to be a restart [with China], mainly affected by the economic situation in the United Kingdom," James ·, co-director of Labour's human rights campaign, was quoted by Nikkei Asia, adding, "I expect trade and cooperation to be the dominant topic of discussion." Despite the complexity of the relationship between the UK and China, the United Kingdom academic said, "there are a wide range of areas where we can work together, not only on climate change, but also on the professional services provided by London." ▲