UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer told Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday he hoped they could have ‘honest’ discussions about thorny issues as they held the first call between leaders of the countries in over two years.

The formal conversation was the first between the pair since Starmer won power last month, and was also the first official call between a British leader and Xi since March 2022.

The chat comes amid a period of strained relations between London and Beijing over espionage allegations and Beijing’s tightening control over former British colony Hong Kong.

The two remain major trading partners, however, and are both permanent members of the United Nations Security Council.

According to a Downing Street readout of the call, Starmer noted hope that he and Xi ‘would be able to have open, frank and honest discussions to address and understand areas of disagreement when necessary’.

Such issues include ‘Hong Kong, Russia’s war in Ukraine and human rights,’ the readout said.

China was the UK’s fifth-largest trading partner as of 2023, according to UK statistics, but diplomatic relations were icy under Starmer’s predecessor Rishi Sunak.

Soon after taking office in October 2022, Sunak declared an end to the so-called ‘golden era’ of UK-China relations trumpeted by former prime minister David Cameron.

Sunak characterised China as a ‘systemic challenge’ to UK values.

Espionage allegations have since presented additional hurdles to repairing relations, with Beijing saying in June that MI6 recruited Chinese state employees to spy for the UK.

That came after British police in April charged two men under the UK’s counter-espionage Official Secrets Act, accusing them of spying for China.

Xi emphasised to Starmer that China aimed to ‘make mutual benefits and common wins the fundamental tone of China-UK relations’, according to state broadcaster CCTV’s report of the phone call.

His comments also appeared to call for resetting the relationship.

‘China is willing to conduct equal dialogue with the UK side on the basis of mutual respect... (and) expand cooperation in the fields of finance, green economy, artificial intelligence, etc,’ Xi was quoted as saying.

Xi also congratulated Starmer on becoming prime minister following his Labour party’s thumping general election win over the Conservatives on July 4, CCTV said. 

Chinese Premier Li Qiang was the first senior leader from the country to publicly congratulate Starmer, two days after the Labour leader entered office.

Friday’s phone call – which CCTV said came at Starmer’s invitation – is the first to be reported between top Chinese and British leaders since Xi spoke with former prime minister Boris Johnson on March 25, 2022.

Xi told Starmer that ‘China attaches great importance to the UK side’s wish to strengthen contact and dialogue’, CCTV said.

He added that China is ‘willing to maintain exchanges with the UK at all levels, promote the steady and long-term development of China-UK relations, and work together to promote world peace and development’.

The Downing Street readout said the leaders discussed ‘potential areas of cooperation... including on trade, the economy and education’ and ‘agreed on the importance of close working in areas, such as climate change and global security’.

The statement added they also agreed ‘on the need for a stable and consistent UK-China relationship, including dialogue between their respective foreign and domestic ministers’.

The Guardian newspaper reported earlier this month that Britain’s top diplomat, Foreign Secretary David Lammy, is planning to visit China in September.

Peter Hutchison with Peter Catterall in Beijing

source: AFP

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