British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly’s visit to Beijing yesterday was reportedly intended to “reestablish lines of communication” so as to “avoid mistrust and errors,” he told BBC. Disengagement with China, he said, “is not credible.” In an interview with Bloomberg, he explained that he wanted to engage directly with the Chinese government, “building lines of communication, addressing the areas where we have disagreements but looking at opportunities to work together on some of the major issues affecting both our countries and the world.”
In meetings with Vice President Han Zheng and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Cleverly managed to offend his hosts by raising the issue of treatment of the Uyghurs in Xinjiang and human rights in Hong Kong. While he said that no significant global problem “can be solved without China,” he proclaimed that China has responsibility on the global stage because of its size, history and global significance, and “that responsibility means China fulfilling its international commitments and obligations.”
Wang Yi countered that in the current volatile international situation, the two countries should demonstrate their responsibilities as major countries, working together to face global challenges, “safeguard world peace and stability” and push bilateral relations “forward rather than backward.” He reminded Cleverly of China’s position on Taiwan, warning that Taiwan independence is “incompatible” with stability across the Taiwan Strait. Cleverly insisted that his government’s position on Taiwan remains “unchanged,” and that it adheres to the One China policy. He also stressed that British companies are very interested in greater cooperation with China and “exploring the Chinese market.”
But Global Times today warned that the U.K.’s repeated challenging of China’s core interests over Taiwan will “undoubtedly be an important factor affecting the stability of the relationship.” Despite Cleverly’s protestations, the U.K. government announced at the end of July that it will host later this year the 26th annual “U.K.-Taiwan Trade Talks,” disregarding the fact that China strongly opposes any official interactions with Taiwan by nations that have diplomatic ties with Beijing. As GT points out, this is a clear violation of the One China policy as well.
Cleverly’s overtures were made less convincing by the report on Indo-China policy released the same day by the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee which for the first time referred to Taiwan as “an independent country.” Tories on the committee howled about the Sunak government’s approach to China, and demanded that its currently classified China strategy be declassified. Former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith characterized Cleverly’s trip as “the latest stage of Operation Kowtow,” that is was “pointless” and “smelled terribly of appeasement.” https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202308/1297366.shtml
