UK needs ‘more diplomacy’ with China says Foreign Secretary

The UK approach to China needs “more diplomacy, not less”, David Lammy, the Foreign Secretary, has said on his first official visit to the country.

David Lammy said the Government would bring “consistency” to relations with China, adding there had not been “sufficient contact” between London and Beijing under his predecessors, particularly on human rights issues.

Discussions

His comments follow meetings with Chinese deputy premier Ding Xuexiang and foreign minister Wang Yi, during which they discussed areas of co-operation, the UK’s concerns about the treatment of Uighurs in Xinjiang, the detention of British national Jimmy Lai in Hong Kong, and Chinese military exercises near Taiwan.

Speaking to reporters in Shanghai on Saturday, Mr Lammy said the meetings were “the beginning of a process”, adding it had been important to “restart dialogue”.

He said: “It’s only in dialogue that we can bring about better understanding and change.”

He added: “I believe what you need is more diplomacy, not less.

“That’s why it’s so important to be here as a UK Foreign Secretary and to keep coming back.

“And, of course, I was able to have dialogue with the Chinese on areas where we disagree, areas like Hong Kong, areas like Taiwan, areas like human rights in Xinjiang, we were able to have those conversations and raise difficult, challenging issues.”

Strained

Mr Lammy is the second British foreign secretary to visit China in the past two years.

Conservative James Cleverly made the trip in 2023 but prior to that, relations between the two countries had become strained, with no foreign secretary travelling to Beijing since Jeremy Hunt in 2018.

Mr Lammy criticised the previous government’s approach to China as “inconsistent”.

Vowing to always put national security first, he said: “What people also want is consistency. What business wants is stability and clarity, and that’s what the UK Government, led by Keir Starmer, promises over this next period.”

In statements released after the meetings in Beijing, both governments stressed the need for “pragmatic, mutually beneficial cooperation”, although the Foreign Office added that Mr Lammy had raised humans rights and security issues with his Chinese counterpart.

Mr Lammy then travelled to Shanghai to meet British businesses to discuss economic links between the UK and China.