On a bilateral visit beginning on Wednesday, British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly will bring up Beijing’s human rights commitments, particularly as they pertain to the people of Xinjiang and Tibet.
According to a statement released by the UK government, Cleverly will meet with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Vice President Han Zheng to address climate change and other topics in separate bilateral sessions.
The last time a British foreign secretary visited China was nearly five years ago.
To paraphrase the statement: “the choices that China makes are critical to our collective ability to tackle this global problem” since China is the greatest investor in renewable energy and the largest emitter of carbon.
The Foreign Minister will argue that China’s rising power means it must shoulder a greater share of the burden in maintaining international peace and stability, including by assisting in putting a halt to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, calming tensions in the South China Sea, and putting a stop to malicious activities in cyberspace.
The Foreign Secretary will bring up human rights commitments in Beijing, especially with regards to Xinjiang and Tibetan people, during his visit. Along with other UK interests, such as the sanctions put on UK MPs, he will also push China on the loss of autonomy, rights, and freedoms in Hong Kong under the Beijing-imposed National Security Law.
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