UK Foreign Secretary Lammy says engagement with China is necessary at start of 2-day visit

BEIJING (AP) — Britain’s foreign secretary has called engagement with China “pragmatic and necessary” as he makes he makes the first visit by a Cabinet minister since the Labor government took control in July.

David Lammy met Friday with Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang and was to hold talks with Foreign Minister Wang Yi later the same day.

His two-day trip is an attempt to reset ties with Beijing after relations turned frosty in recent years over spying allegations, China’s support for Russia in the Ukraine war and a crackdown on civil liberties in Hong Kong, a former British colony now part of China.

“From stopping Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, to supporting a global green transition, we must speak often and candidly across both areas of contention as well as areas for cooperation in the U.K.’s national interest,” Lammy was quoted as saying in a Foreign Office news release.

The release said that Lammy would urge China to stop its political and economic support of the Russian war effort.

The U.S. sanctioned two Chinese companies on Thursday for allegedly helping Russia build long-range attack drones used in the war in Ukraine. The Chinese Embassy in Washington said the allegations were false.

Lammy will also visit Shanghai, where he will meet with British business leaders, the Foreign Office release said. China including Hong Kong is the U.K.’s fourth largest trading partner.

Human rights groups demanded that Lammy press the Chinese government over its crackdowns on dissent in Hong Kong, Xinjiang and Tibet.

The spokesperson for Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that securing the release of British citizen Jimmy Lai is a priority. The Hong Kong media publisher has been in custoday since December 2020 and will testify next