David Lammy is planning a visit to China in September, within his first 100 days as foreign secretary, to signal the UK's desire to resume high-level engagement with Beijing. The trip, which has not been officially confirmed, would mark a shift from the limited ministerial visits under the previous Conservative government.
Lammy had intended to travel to China earlier this summer while Labour was in opposition, but the trip was postponed due to the general election. After Labour's victory, he met China's foreign minister, Wang Yi, at an ASEAN meeting on 26 July, where he outlined the government's approach of cooperating where possible, competing where needed, and challenging where necessary.
The foreign secretary will face pressure to take a robust stance on human rights. As shadow foreign secretary in 2023, Lammy reaffirmed Labour's position that it would take steps to recognise China's treatment of Uyghurs as genocide. China has imposed sanctions on seven UK parliamentarians, including Labour peer Helena Kennedy, for criticising its human rights record.
Whitehall is conducting an audit of UK-China relations, as outlined in Labour's manifesto, aiming to improve the UK's ability to understand and respond to challenges and opportunities posed by China. The last foreign secretary to visit China was James Cleverly in August 2023, under pressure from Conservative backbenchers to take a tough line.
A senior British source working on UK-China relations noted that under the Conservatives, there was no senior-level engagement with China except for Cleverly's visit, and argued that reconnecting with the world must include China. Ruby Osman of the Tony Blair Institute added that while other Western nations have maintained head-of-state meetings with President Xi, the UK has seemed uncomfortable engaging, with only three ministerial visits in five years. Labour's challenge will be shifting the mood in Westminster to recognise that engagement does not imply agreement.
