Rishi Sunak risks Tory backlash with plan to send UK minister to China

LONDON – Rishi Sunak’s government has begun talks with Chinese officials about sending a British minister to Beijing for the first time in more than three years.

The UK Foreign Office is drawing up plans for a possible official visit later this year, according to three people with knowledge of the talks, in a move that will upset offshoot members of the ruling Conservative Party.

There has been no official invitation from China yet, but behind-the-scenes talks are on.

If a visit goes ahead, it would be the first time a British minister would visit China since Boris Johnson’s trade minister Graham Stuart in August 2019.

UK-China relations have deteriorated significantly over the past five years over Beijing’s crackdown on democratic rights in Hong Kong and its treatment of the Uighur Muslim community.

However, the governments of the United States, France and the European Union have already planned to visit Beijing this year following the relaxation of COVID-19 measures, and Sunak has made it clear that he will support China on issues including climate change and global consider it important to connect with Health

A senior minister with direct knowledge of the talks said Sunak’s four-month-old government has already moved to ease tensions with Beijing, working behind the scenes to reassure Chinese officials that Taiwan But Britain’s old position did not change after the outspoken comments of his predecessor. Liz Truss when she was Foreign Secretary.

The seniority of the British minister traveling to China will be important in determining the message sent by the visit. According to a UK official, James Cleverly, the foreign secretary, will consider an invitation if one is offered to him.

But the appetite to send a British minister to China will anger a vocal section of backbench Tory MPs who oppose any closer engagement with Beijing.

Since leaving Downing Street last year and returning to the backbenches, Truss has vowed to push for a tougher approach.

In an overnight speech in Japan, he plans to warn that “the free world is under threat” and urge democracies to work together to counter Beijing’s influence, including building closer defense and economic ties with Taiwan Did. Truss was due to address a symposium on China organized by the hawkish Interparliamentary Alliance, his first public engagement overseas since leaving office.

In a display of the gulf between different views in the Conservative Party, Tory peer Philip Hammond, who was Britain’s Chancellor of the Exchequer under former Prime Minister Theresa May, wrote an article this week in a Chinese state-run newspaper calling on the UK and China to article used. “To return to business as usual.” He was heavily criticized by sections of his own party.

western engagement

Nevertheless, many of Britain’s closest international allies have organized visits and meetings that signal closer Western engagement with China – although this was temporarily halted after a Chinese spy balloon was shot down over the United States. Has been given.

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken was due to visit China before a diplomatic dispute over the balloon forced him to postpone the trip. He is now reportedly looking to meet Wang Yi, China’s top diplomat, at the Munich Security Conference later this week.

Meanwhile the EU foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, is planning a trip to Beijing in April, Politico reported earlier this month. French President Emmanuel Macron announced on the margins of the G20 summit last year that he also plans to visit China in 2023.

The travel has been made possible by China’s decision to roll back its strict coronavirus restrictions after more than two years.

Richard Graham, chair of the all-party parliamentary group on China, who previously served as a UK diplomat in Beijing, said: “Major Western countries all realize that at a time of significant global geopolitical discord, it is time to engage and de -The need to escalate is urgent. Megaphone diplomacy is not the solution, and physical meetings matter.

refresh strategy

Government officials are currently finalizing an updated version of the UK’s Integrated Review of Foreign Policy, which is expected to be published in spring, and analysts will be watching closely for any changes to the review’s language on China.

John Bev, who wrote the original review and is leading its update, has overseen foreign policy at No 10 under three successive Tory prime ministers. According to a Whitehall official and a senior Tory, he is considering leaving his post in Downing Street later this year once the review is published and post-Brexit Northern Ireland protocol negotiations are over.

Cleverly planning a major foreign policy speech that will address the UK’s stance towards China after the updated Integrated Review is published.

Julia Palmilih, Foreign Policy Research Fellow at Policy Exchange, said: “It is clear that this government is looking to calibrate its approach to China – and high-level diplomatic engagement will play an important role. would need to be supported by evidence of strategic coherence.

Christina Gallardo contributed reporting.