British Foreign Secretary Lammy to make official visit to China

The government says visit is 'necessary, pragmatic engagement with China in the UK’s interest'

Foreign Secretary David Lammy will visit China to address human rights and Taiwan issues. PA

British Foreign Secretary David Lammy will visit China on Friday and Saturday, Beijing’s Foreign Affairs Ministry has confirmed.

The British government insisted it will “challenge” China on issues including human rights violations and the tensions over Taiwan, with the visit being Mr Lammy's first trip to the country since taking office.

In Beijing, Mr Lammy is expected to meet Chinese Foreign Secretary Wang Yi and is also set to hold talks with British businesses in Shanghai.

The meeting comes amid continued allegations of human rights abuses against the mainly-Muslim Uighur minority group – something Mr Lammy has previously described as “genocide” – and the detention of British citizen Jimmy Lai, who was arrested in 2020 in Hong Kong during a crackdown on pro-democracy protests.

Downing Street said Mr Lammy's visit was “necessary, pragmatic engagement with China in the UK’s interest”.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer has outlined the government’s approach as “co-operate where we can”, “compete where we have different interests” and “challenge … where it is needed”.

China held large-scale military exercises surrounding Taiwan and its outlying islands earlier this week, something Mr Starmer said is “not conducive to peace and stability”.

At Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday he said: “Stability in the Taiwan Strait is in all of our interests.”

Setting out his wider approach to China, Mr Starmer said: “We will co-operate where we can as permanent members of the UN Security Council, on issues such as net zero and health and trade.

“Compete where we have different interests, and challenge … where it is needed to protect national security, human rights and our values. We will put that challenge in.”