Labor declared after the election that “Britain is back” on the world stage, after years of Conservative retreat.
But when it comes to China, the government is nervously tiptoeing.
David Lammy’s trip to China is rare; he is only the second foreign minister to visit the country in six years.
He held talks in Beijing with his powerful counterpart Wang Yi and Deputy Prime Minister Ding Xuexiang before heading to Shanghai on Saturday to meet British business leaders.
You might think that the State Department would want to make a big thing of it, to emphasize the importance of the diplomatic repair work that the Secretary of State is pursuing.
But instead, the journey takes place sotto voce.
There is little media access to Mr Lammy. There have been no announcements about a new trade agreement or policy cooperation.
Whitehall sources tell me this is partly the fault of Downing Street, which, they say, is increasingly in the grip of caution after a feverish few weeks.
No 10 officials want to avoid political rows ahead of the budget later this month. They do not want Labor and Conservative MPs to unite and accuse the government of putting economic gain above human rights and international law.
There is a strong cross-party caucus in Westminster that is skeptical about China; As a result, seven MPs and colleagues remain officially sanctioned by Beijing.
They are already accusing Lammy of going back on pre-election promises to persuade international courts to declare China’s treatment of the Uighur minority a genocide.
China audit looms
Perhaps the main reason for the low-key nature of Lammy’s visit is that Labor is still working out its policy on China.
It is carrying out a so-called ‘audit’ of Britain’s relations with the country, which is not expected to be completed until next year. It is then that Chancellor Rachel Reeves, and perhaps even Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, could visit China.
For the time being, the government has a tenacious position that it summarizes in three words: “challenge, compete, collaborate”.
It says it will challenge China over human rights abuses and its support for Russia in Ukraine. It will compete with China in trade. And it will work with China on shared interests such as global health and climate change.
If this sounds familiar, it’s because other Western powers use similar language. And the policy of the previous Conservative government was “protect, align and engage”.
However, both sides found it difficult to figure out where exactly to draw the line.
Does “compete” mean banning Chinese electric vehicles from the UK car market?
Does ‘challenge’ mean lucrative Chinese students will be restricted from attending cash-strapped British universities?
Does ‘working together’ mean sharing private medical research to help prevent a future pandemic?
‘New starting point’
The head of MI5, Ken McCallum, last week spoke of “a threat that is manifesting itself on a large scale” from China, aimed at British information and democracy.
Mr Lammy’s more prosaic aim for this visit is simply to re-establish some sort of working relationship with Beijing.
Under the Conservatives, relations between Britain and China were hot and cold, between the diplomatic warmth of the so-called ‘golden age’ and the aggressive aggression of more recent Conservative leaders.
Last year, then Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called China the “biggest threat” to the British economy; Then-Secretary of State James Cleverly visited Beijing and called for renewed engagement; his successor Lord Cameron resolutely ignored the country.
Mr Lammy says he wants to restore what he calls a more consistent and pragmatic relationship.
During his discussions with Mr. Wang, he said he was “impressed by the opportunities for mutually beneficial cooperation in climate, in energy and nature, in science and technology, in trade and investment, in health and development.”
He said Beijing and London must find “pragmatic solutions to complex challenges.”
China seems to qualify for this. Mr Wang said China-Britain relations were “at a new starting point” and spoke of “our strengthened confidence in bilateral cooperation”.
He even referred by name to Mr Lammy’s foreign policy slogan – “progressive realism” – which Mr Wang said “has a positive meaning”.
So far so conciliatory.
Draw the line
Of course, Mr Lammy said both countries had “different perspectives” on some issues.
In a statement after the talks, the Foreign Ministry said he expressed concerns about Chinese military support for Russia in Ukraine and how it was damaging China’s relations in Europe.
The ministry also said he raised China’s treatment of Uyghurs in the Xinjiang region, expressed “serious concerns” over the implementation of new national security laws in Hong Kong, and called for the release of British media mogul Jimmy Lai, which has been arbitrarily held. there.
But it stressed that the meeting was “constructive across the full breadth of the bilateral relationship” and that both sides committed to “regular discussions” at ministerial level.
Because that is ultimately what this trip is all about: restoring ties with the Chinese government.
The government’s priority is economic growth, and that is difficult without a working relationship with its fourth largest trading partner.
But when it comes to China, it still remains unclear where Labor will draw the line between challenging, competing and cooperating.
