China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, is due to visit the UK next month for talks with the British foreign secretary, David Lammy, the Guardian has learned.
The Foreign Office (FCDO) is drawing up plans to host the Chinese foreign minister in mid-February, according to three people briefed on the plans. The FCDO declined to comment.
One source said the purpose of Wang’s visit was to hold a UK-China strategic dialogue for the first time since 2018.
He is to attend the Munich security conference between 14 and 16 February, so his visit to the UK is likely to take place either before or after that.
The trip is scheduled during a period of heightened political sensitivity. A local inquiry hearing about China’s controversial proposals to build a “super-embassy” in east London will take place on 11 February.
China proposes to turn 20,000 sq metres (2 hectares) of land at Royal Mint Court, a historic site near the Tower of London, into the largest embassy in Europe. China bought the site in 2018, but the local council, Tower Hamlets, declined planning permission in 2022, citing security concerns and opposition from residents. The Conservative government declined to intervene.
Beijing resubmitted the proposals after Labour came to power in July last year. The Chinese president, Xi Jinping, raised the issue directly with the prime minister, Keir Starmer, in their first call, demonstrating that the stalled project has become a significant issue in China-UK relationsa.
Lammy and the home secretary, Yvette Cooper, have written to Tower Hamlets signalling support for the plans. The Metropolitan police has dropped an objection it lodged with the council two months ago. The Met had warned that the embassy would be a prime target for large protests that could put the public at risk.
The Chinese government is blocking the redevelopment of the British embassy in Beijing until its proposals in London are approved. The decision rests with Angela Rayner, the deputy prime minister and housing secretary.
The last UK-China strategic dialogue was held between Wang and the then British foreign secretary, Jeremy Hunt, in 2018. It is one of several bilateral dialogues put on ice during the coronavirus pandemic amid deteriorating relations with Beijing, and which are now being resumed by Labour ministers.
Wang and Lammy met in Laos in July and again in October when the latter travelled to Beijing.
Officials are drawing up plans for the business secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, to visit China later this year and resume the UK-China Joint economic and trade commission, a set of trade talks that last took place in 2018.
The chancellor, Rachel Reeves, visited Beijing and Shanghai this month to resume the UK-China economic and financial dialogue. She told reporters that the UK “must engage confidently with China” and find areas for cooperation in the national interest.
Source: theguardian.com
