Cleverly sets off on landmark trip to Beijing

James Cleverly is about to become the first foreign secretary to visit China in five years amid a growing realisation that, despite hostilities, the UK cannot afford to be isolated from the world’s second-largest economy. 

“China’s size, history and global significance means [it] can’t be ignored,” declared Cleverly today, before boarding a plane to Beijing, where he will meet with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, tomorrow. 

UK-China relations have deteriorated significantly since then-Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt travelled to the country in 2018, thanks to China’s crackdown on freedoms in Hong Kong, human rights abuses in Xinjiang, and its escalating trade wars with the West. 

The debate within the Tory Party over how to approach China rages on, with some backbenchers, including Liz Truss, urging Sunak to be more hawkish. And the importance of reducing reliance on Beijing as a trading partner was illustrated yet again earlier this month when it imposed sweeping export restrictions on its gallium and germanium products – metals which, as Iain Martin writes in Reaction, are vital for any transition to greener energy sources. 

Yet Cleverly is of the view that few major international issues can be solved without China. 

During his visit, he plans to discuss how the two countries “can work together”, including ways to end Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, as well as cooperation on climate issues. 

China is responsible for around 28 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions. As both the largest emitter of carbon but also the world’s largest investor in sustainable energy, it is unsurprising that the Foreign Office has concluded that: “the choices that China makes are critical to our collective ability to tackle this global problem.”

Cleverly also insists he won’t shy away from the thorniest issues of all, including freedoms in Hong Kong and “China’s posture in the region” – presumably a reference to Beijing’s increasing aggression towards Taiwan. 

On such contentious matters, there’s little chance of any breakthrough. Yet Cleverly is walking the diplomatic tightrope because he doesn’t consider non-engagement with China to be a viable option. 

Tomorrow’s talks come just two months after Anthony Blinken, US Secretary of State, made his own trip to Beijing in which he stressed that Washington is “de-risking, not decoupling” from China. Despite often being seen as its fiercest critic, he warned that severing economic ties with Beijing would be “disastrous” for the US, and world, economy. Indeed, Beijing is forecast to be the top contributor to global growth over the next five years, with a share expected to represent 22.6 per cent of total growth — double that of the US.

But will Wang Yi engage seriously with his British counterpart tomorrow? 

China’s current economic woes – as it totters on the brink of deflation – could make him more inclined to do so. 

The Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson has released a statement saying it is “in the common interest” of both nations’ peoples to develop relations.

Tomorrow’s meeting may well just be a warm up. It’s thought that Cleverly’s trip could pave the way for bilateral talks between Sunak and Xi on the sidelines of the G20 summit in India next week. 

In which case it will be over to Sunak to walk the fine line of engaging with China on vital global issues all the while pressing ahead with efforts to neutralise the security threat it poses.

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