British chancellor to visit China this month after delay: sources

Aug 21 (Reuters) – British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly is due to visit China later this month, three sources familiar with the matter said, a long-awaited trip aimed at stabilizing a turbulent relationship that has sunk to its lowest point. low in decades.

The foreign ministries of both countries did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Smartly expected in China towards the end of julybut the trip never materialized as China announced the unexpected replacement of his counterpart Qin Gang by former Chinese foreign minister and veteran diplomat Wang Yi.

Qin disappeared for over a month before being replaced on July 25, and the Chinese government did not make clear the details behind his removal. He has not appeared in public since the end of June.

Cleverly will land in Beijing on August 29, one of the sources said. The other two sources said the trip was expected by the end of the month, without specifying dates.

The trip is only expected to last a couple of days and has been “cut down from the original plan”, according to one of the sources.

All three sources requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter.

Cleverly would be the highest-ranking British official to visit China since the pandemic, after relations collapsed over issues including Beijing’s crackdown on Hong Kong and its treatment of minority Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang.

The UK government has taken a relatively aggressive approach towards China, with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak stating that Beijing poses the “greatest challenge of our era to global security and prosperity” in May.

Sunak is also under increasing pressure from some lawmakers from his ruling Conservative Party, who are seeking to toughen London’s policy on China. The UK is also home to large Hong Kong and Uyghur diaspora communities, whose activists are vocal about China’s alleged human rights abuses.

After Beijing lifted COVID restrictions earlier this year, a host of high-ranking European and American officials visited the country, some with great fanfare. Some senior UK officials have visited China in recent months, but these trips were relatively low-key by comparison.

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