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Category: Britain

Could China’s rise be Britain’s opportunity?

We are pleased to reprint below the report by Morning Star editor Ben Chacko, carried in that newspaper, of the meeting ‘China in Springtime: Sharing Opportunities with the World’, organised by the China Media Group together with the Chinese Chamber of Commerce in the UK (CCCUK) and the China-Britain Business Council (CBBC), with the support of the Chinese Embassy, and held at the Bank of China, in the City of London, the capital’s financial district, on March 17. The key purpose of the gathering was to report on and discuss China’s recent two (parliamentary) sessions and the resulting prospects for business and economic cooperation between China and Britain from the policies rolled out there.

Reporting on the keynote speech delivered by Chinese Ambassador Zheng Zeguang, Ben notes how he, “referenced President Xi Jinping’s three signature initiatives, the Global Development Initiative (for economic co-operation in place of trade systems that benefit corporations in rich countries at the expense of the Global South), the Global Security Initiative (replacing concepts of security based on power blocs like NATO with an inclusive international security architecture) and the Global Civilisation Initiative, which promotes multipolarity and argues for a world order based on respect for different civilisations, rather than one whose institutions have all been designed in the framework of the European political tradition.”

China would meet its five per cent growth target and its role as a scientific innovator should be recognised, he argued, pointing to its leading role in the global green transition (non-fossil fuels accounting for 40 per cent of Chinese electricity generation last year and 70 per cent of all electric vehicles worldwide being sold in China) as well as its progress in quantum technology and AI, most notably with DeepSeek, the “low-cost, open source large language model [which] has stunned the world.

“On sci-tech, we were playing catch-up but have now become a frontrunner.” But unlike the US, which seeks to stymie China’s development by blocking access to chips and software, “we don’t believe in ‘small yard, high fence’ — we believe in mutual learning and sharing.”

Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles, Chairman of CBBC, contrasted China’s “serious government” to too many in the West, pointing out China has a record of achieving its economic growth targets and should be seen as a key export market for British goods and services.

Lord (Neil) Davidson, Labour Member of the House of Lords and former government minister, said London should view China’s advances as opportunities, not threats.

The City should pay close attention to the “BRICS-Pay project – another platform for trade finance as an addition to the dollar-based system… this could be characterised as a threat to dollar hegemony, but historically the City has looked to assess financial innovations for their objective effects rather than rhetoric,” he argued, hinting that Britain too could benefit from an end to US financial supremacy.

“The view that China can be pressured into policies it rejects, if ever true, is plainly bankrupt. The view that China is dependent on the West for technology is eroding speedily. The view that China is merely a low-cost provider of goods belongs in the past,” he added.

We also carry below the report on the event published on the website of the Chinese Embassy. It noted Ambassador Zheng as stating:

“China will promote the development of new quality productive forces, fostering industries such as biomanufacturing, quantum technology, embodied AI, and 6G, and continuously advancing the AI Plus initiative and AI application in different industries. China will expand higher-standard opening up, strengthening policies to stabilise foreign trade and foreign investment, and increasing the number of countries eligible for visa-free entry. China will promote green and low-carbon transition, improving incentives for green consumption, and accelerating the development of a green and low-carbon economy.”

The Ambassador also pointed out that China and the UK should seize opportunities, expand collaboration and create a new future of mutually beneficial cooperation. In the face of a turbulent and changing world, a stable and constructive China-UK relationship is even more important to both countries and the world.

“The two sides must uphold the principles of mutual respect, non-interference in each other’s internal affairs and equality, and properly handle differences and sensitive issues. We must say no to those who have been trying to talk China down. We must say no to those who have been trying to undermine normal exchanges between our two countries. We must say no to those who have been trying to disrupt China-UK collaboration.”

Following the formal proceedings and a networking reception, Creation of the Gods II: Demon Force, a 2025 historical blockbuster, was screened.

Could China’s rise be Britain’s opportunity?

Will Labour take a more rational approach to China than the Tories did? Or continue the drive to trade decoupling and war led by the United States?

Optimism was in the air at a China Media Group meeting bringing together the country’s ambassador to Britain Zheng Zeguang and business figures earlier this week. The Donald Trump government was not named, but its disruptive character was referenced — Zheng observed that “unilateralism and protectionism are on the rise and power politics runs rampant;” the chairman of the China-British Council, Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles, spoke of the “orange-coloured elephant in the room.”

China in Springtime reported back on the recent Two Sessions, as the simultaneous meetings of China’s national policy-making forums — the legislative National People’s Congress, and the advisory People’s Political Consultative Conference — are known.

Zheng countered propaganda depicting China’s rise as a threat to a “rules-based” — read US-policed — world order. “China champions an equal and orderly multipolar world and universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalisation.”

Here he referenced President Xi Jinping’s three signature initiatives, the Global Development Initiative (for economic co-operation in place of trade systems that benefit corporations in rich countries at the expense of the global South), the Global Security Initiative (replacing concepts of security based on power blocs like Nato with an inclusive international security architecture) and the Global Civilisation Initiative, which promotes multipolarity and argues for a world order based on respect for different civilisations, rather than one whose institutions have all been designed in the framework of the European political tradition.

Continue reading Could China’s rise be Britain’s opportunity?

China, Britain pledge to jointly address climate change

Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang met with Ed Miliband, British Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, in Beijing on Monday 17 March. According to a UK government press release, this was the first formal bilateral discussion between the two countries on climate action in nearly eight years.

At the meeting, Ding Xuexiang stated that developing stable and mutually beneficial relations between China and the UK serves the common interests of the two peoples, facilitates global economic growth, and promotes joint efforts to address global challenges.

Xinhua reports: “Miliband said the UK government sincerely hopes to enhance engagement with China, is committed to developing a long-term and constructive bilateral relationship, and stands ready to strengthen cooperation with China on energy security and addressing climate change.”

Miliband also met with Wang Hongzhi, head of China’s National Energy Administration, after which meeting the two sides signed a memorandum of understanding, outlining key areas of cooperation including power grids, battery storage, offshore wind power and green hydrogen.

As Friends of Socialist China co-editor Carlos Martinez commented to the Morning Star, it is a positive sign that Miliband has visited Beijing and that the British government is exploring opportunities for cooperation with China around the climate emergency.

After all, China is the world’s only renewable energy superpower, and is leading the way globally in terms of electric transport, afforestation, biodiversity protection, pollution reduction, sustainable water management, and more. A report from Yale School of the Environment notes:

Today, China has more than 80 percent of the world’s solar manufacturing capacity. The extraordinary scale of China’s renewables sector output has driven down prices worldwide, and this is a key factor in reducing the cost barrier to renewable systems for poorer countries. Today China not only holds important positions in wind and battery technologies, but a Chinese company, BYD, has become the world’s biggest EV manufacturer, and China is poised to pose a formidable global challenge in all aspects of electric transportation to established vehicle brands.

The idea that the West can solve the climate crisis while simultaneously “decoupling” from China is thus entirely unrealistic, and clearly there is a great deal Britain can learn from China.

Miliband’s visit to Beijing is a step in the right direction. Less helpful are his remarks in the Guardian on 14 March 2025, promising to “raise issues including forced labour in supply chains, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and human rights in Hong Kong”.

The slanderous accusations of forced labour in Xinjiang have been used to impose sanctions on Chinese renewable energy materials, and as such form a direct impediment to global climate action.

Meanwhile it’s Miliband’s own government which is basing its growth strategy on the expansion of the arms industry rather than pursuing a Green New Deal. This same government has actively contributed to NATO’s proxy war in Ukraine, which is having a disastrous environmental impact – aside from its tragic more immediate human impact.

Furthermore, the British government’s recent cuts to its overseas aid budget will “make it more difficult for the government to deliver on a promise to increase climate finance to developing countries”. This doesn’t compare favourably with China’s construction of a Green Belt and Road, providing investment in renewable energy and green infrastructure projects across the Global South.

British politicians would do well to drop their empire nostalgia and to avoid hectoring their Chinese counterparts. When it comes to humanity’s shared project of preventing climate catastrophe, Britain has more to learn than to teach. While China has established itself as by far the global leader in renewable energy, Britain “has lost its position as a global leader on climate action”.

Miliband is correct to say that “it is simply an act of negligence to today’s and future generations not to engage China.” Parroting Washington’s anti-China Cold War propaganda will only create friction in this important relationship. It is to be hoped that Miliband’s trip to Beijing is a springboard for further cooperation.

FoSC joins annual Karl Marx commemoration in London

A delegation from Friends of Socialist China joined the annual commemoration of the death of Karl Marx, organised by the Marx Memorial Library and the Communist Party of Britain (CPB), at his tomb in north London’s Highgate Cemetery, on Sunday, 16 March 2025.

In her address to the ceremony, which was attended by hundreds of people, Ismara M. Vargas Walter, the Ambassador of Cuba, said that “the triumph of the Cuban Revolution in 1959 was not just the fall of a tyrant; it was the birth of a socialist project inspired by Marxism, by the belief that the workers and peasants must be the true owners of their destiny… Marxism is not a relic in Cuba; it is a living practice… Despite the relentless attacks against our right to self-determination, Cuba stands firm, proving that socialism is not only viable but necessary in the face of capitalist crises, growing economic inequality and environmental destruction… When Cuba sends doctors, not bombs; when we develop vaccines, not monopolies; when we educate, not exploit, this is Marxism in action. Marxism is not a dogma; it is a tool for liberation… We must continue to innovate in how we teach and apply Marxist principles, ensuring that they speak to the challenges of our time: digital capitalism, climate change and the need for a multipolar world.

“Cuba’s Marxist Revolution stands with Palestine, demanding an end to genocide. Cuba’s Marxist Revolution stands with Venezuela and Nicaragua against US criminal unilateral coercive measures. Cuba’s Marxist Revolution stands with all nations resisting imperialism because Marx taught us that capitalism’s exploitation is global, and so too must be our solidarity.

“From Havana to Gaza, young people are rediscovering Marxism not as a 19th century doctrine but as a road map for survival and resistance. And they are proving that the fight is not over, that the revolution is not a relic, but a necessity.”

The Cuban Ambassador was followed by Dr. Ashok Dhawale, member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPIM) and National President of the All India Kisan Sabha (All India Farmers Union).

He referred to the rightward shift in many countries, “which sometimes takes the form of far-right and neo-fascist attacks on racial, religious and other minorities, including immigrants,” adding that “the political and ideological bankruptcy of social democratic parties and their unprincipled compromises have helped the far-right to advance.

“The opposite trend is the leftward shift in some countries of Latin America, Asia and Europe, where left forces could win over sections of the people.

“On this occasion, we salute the socialist countries like Cuba, China, Vietnam, Laos, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, and the left-led countries of Latin America and Siri Lanka, who are working hard to ensure the rapid and just socio-economic progress of their people.”

Following the speeches, floral tributes were laid by the CPB, the Marx Memorial Library, the Young Communist League and the Morning Star, followed by the diplomatic representatives of China, Vietnam, Laos and Sri Lanka. Flowers from Friends of Socialist China were presented by Professor Radhika Desai, a member of our Britain Committee as well as our Advisory Group. Other tributes were paid by representatives from communist parties of Iran, Chile, Cyprus, Iraq, Spain, Sudan, Greece, Palestine, Malaya and Italy, as well as the New Communist Party (NCP) of Britain and the London District of the CPB.

The ceremony, which was chaired by Professor Mary Davis, the Secretary of the Marx Memorial Library and of the Marx Grave Trust, concluded with the singing of the Internationale.

Resist the escalating New Cold War on China

The following text is based on a speech given by Friends of Socialist China co-editor Carlos Martinez at the Stop the War Cymru AGM, held on Saturday 8 March 2025. Carlos participated in the panel Imperialism’s Drive to War: Middle East, Ukraine, Russia, China, Cuba, alongside Andrew Murray (Deputy President of Stop the War Coalition), Bethan Sayed (former Member of the Senedd [Welsh parliament] for Plaid Cymru) and Ismara Mercedes Vargas Walter (Cuban Ambassador to the UK). The session was chaired by David McKnight (co-chair of Stop the War Cymru).

The speech takes up the questions of the Trump administration’s strategic orientation towards confrontation with China; whether the global working class should take sides in a conflict between the US and China; and what the tasks of the British anti-war movement are in relation to the US-led New Cold War on China.

Likelihood of a further escalation of the New Cold War

What can we expect in terms of the US-China relationship in the coming months and years?

First, we need to consider the Trump administration’s moves towards extricating itself from the quagmire in Ukraine. Presumably most people understand that Trump and his cabinet are not motivated by any abstract love of peace; they’re not attempting to recreate the spirit of Woodstock and “make love not war”. Rather, they are carrying out a strategic reorientation to fight a New Cold War on one main front instead of two. This means reducing conflict with Russia in order to focus their efforts and resources on the project of containing and encircling China.

A number of commentators have pointed to the parallels with Henry Kissinger’s “triangular diplomacy” of the early 1970s, in which the US sought to befriend China in order to concentrate on attacking their number one strategic enemy at the time: the Soviet Union.

Half a century later, the People’s Republic of China is considered the greatest threat to the long-term interests of US imperialism. China is the world’s largest economy in purchasing power parity (PPP) terms. It’s the major trading partner of over two-thirds of the world’s countries. It’s catching up with – and indeed surpassing – the US in a number of crucial areas of technology and science. Furthermore, China is at the core of the trajectory towards a multipolar world.

In a recent article, Ben Norton cites various statements from Trump and his team indicating that a strategic reorientation towards aggression against China is precisely what they are planning. For example, in an interview with Tucker Carlson last year, Trump stated that “you never want Russia and China uniting… I’m going to have to un-unite them, and I think I can do that, too. I have to un-unite them.” Similarly, Marco Rubio, the secretary of state, said in his Senate hearing last year: “The Chinese see great benefit in Ukraine because they view it as: the more time and money we spend there, the less time, and money, and focus we have on them.”

Trump’s cabinet is packed with China hawks. Marco Rubio is an anti-China fanatic who stands for increased tariffs, more sanctions, more slander, more support for Taiwanese separatism, more provocations in the South China Sea, and more destabilisation in Hong Kong and Xinjiang. Mike Waltz (national security advisor) has long pushed for closer military cooperation with India, Japan, Australia and other countries in the region in preparation for war against China. Pete Hegseth, defence secretary, says that the US is “prepared to go to war with China”.

Continue reading Resist the escalating New Cold War on China

Wang Yi: China, Britain need to strengthen dialogue, communication

In a further sign of the relative normalisation of relations between China and Britain, since last year’s UK general election, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited London on February 13.

Meeting with Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Wang said that China is willing to collaborate with Britain to consolidate the positive momentum towards stabilising and improving bilateral relations. The successful meeting between President Xi Jinping and Starmer at the end of last year has launched the process of improving and developing China-Britain relations. The recent China-UK Economic and Financial Dialogue has produced fruitful results and exchanges at all levels have been resumed.

This demonstrates the huge potential of practical cooperation between the two countries, and also fully proves that the Labour government’s rational and pragmatic policy towards China is in line with the interests of the country and people and conforms to the trend of the times, Wang said. He added that China stands ready to work with Britain to implement the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, so as to deepen and expand cooperation in infrastructure, trade and investment, clean energy and other fields, bringing more benefits to the people of both countries.

He noted that the world is becoming volatile and changes unseen in a century are unfolding at a faster pace. As permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, China and Britain should strengthen strategic communication, enhance mutual understanding and trust, demonstrate their responsibilities as major countries, and deepen cooperation in key areas concerning the future of humanity, including climate change, artificial intelligence, and green development, thereby contributing to greater certainty and stability in the world.

Wang also met with Jonathan Powell, the British prime minister’s national security adviser and secretary to the National Security Council, and Foreign Secretary David Lammy, with whom he co-chaired the 10th China-UK Strategic Dialogue.

The Chinese Foreign Minister said that the two sides have resumed exchanges in various fields and reestablished mechanisms of communication, with positive outcomes. This has boosted the confidence of the two societies and has sent a positive message to the world. It has been proven that strengthening dialogue and cooperation between China and Britain is the right choice, serves the interests of both sides, and aligns with the global trend. It is only natural that there are differences and disagreements between China and Britain, as the two countries have different political systems, history and culture. What is important is to have an objective and rational perspective and strengthen dialogue and communication in the spirit of mutual respect.

He added that this year marks the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War, as well as the 80th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations. Under the current circumstances, as permanent members of the UN Security Council, China and Britain should demonstrate their responsibility as major powers, practice multilateralism, support free trade, promote the political settlement of hot-spot issues, and jointly promote world peace and stability.

The two sides agreed to strengthen exchanges at various levels, deepen cultural and people-to-people exchanges, enhance mutual understanding, and continue to promote the comprehensive and effective implementation of the Paris Agreement on climate change and enable each other’s green transition.

In a detailed discussion of the Ukraine crisis, Wang stressed that China has always called for “no expansion of the battlefields, no escalation of hostilities and no fanning flames.” The developments on the ground have proved the rationality and constructiveness of China’s position, he said.

The website of the Chinese Foreign Ministry identified six outcomes of the Strategic Dialogue:

  • The UK Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero Emissions (Ed Miliband) will visit China for the China-UK Energy Dialogue.
  • The UK Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology (Peter Kyle) will visit China for a meeting of the China-UK Joint Committee on Science, Technology and Innovation Cooperation.
  • The UK’s Secretary of State for Education (Bridget Phillipson) will visit China for ministerial consultations.
  • Preparations will be accelerated for holding the China-UK Economic and Trade Joint Committee, as well as dialogues on health, industrial cooperation, and other mechanisms.
  • Achievements in cooperation in financial services, clean energy, and AI will be highlighted.
  • Cooperation will be deepened in global governance, development partnerships, climate change response, and cyber security.

Following his departure from London, Wang Yi attended the 2025 annual meeting of the Munich Security Conference.

The following articles were originally published by the Xinhua News Agency.

China ready to work with Britain to consolidate bilateral ties: FM

LONDON, Feb. 13 (Xinhua) — Visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said here on Thursday that China is willing to collaborate with Britain to consolidate the positive momentum towards stabilizing and improving bilateral relations.

Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said this during a meeting with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

Wang first conveyed the cordial greetings from Chinese President Xi Jinping to Starmer, saying the successful meeting between Xi and Starmer at the end of last year has launched the process of improving and developing China-Britain relations.

Under the strategic guidance of the leaders of the two countries, the recent China-UK Economic and Financial Dialogue has produced fruitful results and exchanges at all levels have been resumed, Wang said.

Continue reading Wang Yi: China, Britain need to strengthen dialogue, communication

On the history of working-class solidarity and people-to-people friendship between Wales and China

The Morning Star held its first Wales Conference on Saturday February 15, 2025, at the Cardiff offices of the UNISON trade union, with the theme ‘Which way for Wales? Developing progressive policies’ and a stated aim of setting the progressive agenda in Wales to combat the far right ahead of the 2026 Senedd [Welsh Parliament] elections. The Reform Party led by Nigel Farage is predicted to make a major breakthrough in these elections, with no single party securing a majority. This threat was underlined on the eve of the conference with the election of a Reform councillor in a Torfaen Council by-election – the party’s first such election victory in Wales.

In a full day of discussion, Friends of Socialist China co-editor Keith Bennett spoke in an afternoon session on Wales for peace and anti-imperialism. He was joined on the panel by Betty Hunter, Honorary President of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC); Roger McKenzie, Foreign Editor of the Morning Star; Dylan Lewis-Rowland, National Secretary of CND (Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament) Cymru; and Jim Scott, a PARC Against DARC campaigner. (DARC, or Deep Space Advanced Radar Capability, involves plans to build space radar dishes that would allow the United States “to militarily dominate all of space” from Wales and has a key role in the AUKUS project aimed at China. An update on the campaign can be read here.)

With an opening keynote address by Morning Star editor Ben Chacko, the array of speakers included Shavanah Taj, TUC (Trades Union Congress) Cymru General Secretary; Jess Turner, UNISON Wales Regional Secretary; Pasty Turner, UNITE Wales Political Officer; Steve Skelly, RMT Regional Organiser; Luke Fletcher, Plaid Cymru Member of the Senedd; Robert Griffiths, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Britain (CPB); Beth Winter, former Labour MP who recently resigned from the party; Hussain Said from Black Lives Matter; Jo Galazka, UNITE Wales Equalities Officer; Jenny Rathbone, Labour Member of the Senedd; and Mairead Canavan, national executive member for Wales of the National Education Union (NEU).

In his speech, Keith focused on the history of working-class solidarity, people-to-people friendship and sub-national diplomacy between Wales and China and the benefits that could accrue from a revival and strengthening of such links, including in trade, two-way investment, sustainability and the rural economy, and education.

We reproduce the text of his speech below. A preview of the conference and a subsequent report were carried by the Morning Star.

Thank you for the opportunity to contribute to this discussion on Wales for peace and anti-imperialism.

We established Friends of Socialist China in May 2021 as a platform based on supporting the People’s Republic of China and promoting understanding of Chinese socialism. With China playing an ever more important role in the world, as well as the daily more acute international situation, not least the new Cold War, we believe that the need for an organisation such as ours has never been greater. China is also the most prominent force pushing for the establishment of a multipolar system of international relations and a new international economic order. And it is emerging as the global leader in the struggle to avoid climate catastrophe.

For all these reasons and more, we see the building of people-to-people friendship with China as an important part of the type of overall progressive agenda for peace and socialism that this conference aims to help develop.

The People’s Republic of China has always maintained that there are three types of international relations, defined by the country’s first Prime Minister Zhou Enlai as government-to-government, party-to-party and people-to-people.

Of course, these three strands are inter-related, but they are also distinct and have their own dynamics. And in recent years, along with a renewed emphasis on people-to-people diplomacy, China has also been promoting what it calls sub-national diplomacy. By this they mean engagement with devolved administrations, regional and provincial assemblies and parliaments, and local authorities and local government generally.

Now, in terms of people-to-people friendship and solidarity, on the part of the organised working class in particular, as well as on sub-national diplomacy, Wales already has a good tradition and history which can be inherited and can help to build the future.

In 1983, Cardiff became the first city in the UK to sign a twinning agreement with a Chinese city – with Xiamen, a major port in Fujian province.

In 1987, Swansea signed a friendship agreement with Nantong in Jiangsu province. A double ceremony saw the Welsh red dragon flying over Nantong while in Swansea, then Deputy Council Leader Charles Thomas helped raise the Chinese five star red flag over the Guildhall.

In 2006, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed by First Minister Rhodri Morgan, on behalf of the Welsh government, and the municipal government of Chongqing, in the west of China. (Incidentally, the municipal area of Chongqing is approximately the size of Austria, only with a population of 32 million compared to Austria’s 9 million.) This was followed by a formal cooperation agreement, again signed by Rhodri Morgan in Chongqing, during his second visit in 2008. This agreement had originally been proposed by then Vice Premier (and later Premier) Wen Jiabao when he visited Wales in 2000.

Continue reading On the history of working-class solidarity and people-to-people friendship between Wales and China

Sino-British Concert: East-West Dialogue, Spring Sequence of New Sounds

On February 2, 2025 the ‘Sino-British Concert: East-West Dialogue, Spring Sequence of New Sounds’ was held at London’s Royal Academy of Music. David Peat, Secretary of Friends of Socialist China (FoSC) Britain Committee, attended the event on invitation. The following is his report.

On Sunday 2nd February, visitors to London’s central Shaftesbury Avenue and surrounding streets were able to take part in Chinese New Year (CNY) celebrations. The breadth of China’s historic culture and modern development were all displayed: exuberant traditional ‘Lion Dances’ took place next to China’s cutting-edge high-tech electric BYD vehicles. People could purchase good fortune souvenirs, and enjoy street snacks and the sounds of firecrackers, all along the temporarily pedestrianised thoroughfare. Each year London’s main Chinese New Year celebration, which expanded beyond the bounds of Chinatown proper since the mayoralty of Ken Livingstone, can be enjoyed by both tourists and residents of the capital city. With the recent viral success of the Xiaohongshu [Red Note] app, western users have been able to witness the amazing CNY celebrations that take place all over China, so no doubt some attendees were keen to enjoy that closer to home.

To the west of Chinatown proper, another event was held, which was a stunning display of musical skill and proof that artistic cultures – and cultures in general – benefit from sharing traditions and influence across borders. This event was the Sino-British Concert: East-West Dialogue, Spring Sequence of New Sounds, hosted by the Sino-British Ensemble, the Society for Anglo-Chinese Understanding (SACU), and the UK Beijing Arts Centre.

In attendance at the event was Chinese Ambassador Zheng Zeguang and his wife Counsellor Hua Mei, along with Minister Zhao Fei. Among others present were representatives of organisations that have sought to build connections and understanding between China and the UK, including Special Guest Michael David Wood, historian and SACU President, who is especially known for his book and BBC documentary on China’s iconic Tang dynasty poet Du Fu. Prior to the performances, Professor Wood gave a brief talk outlining the history of musical exchanges between the west and the east and highlighted the ongoing potential for artistic collaboration to build bridges between nations and peoples.

This sold-out event was held in the beautiful Duke’s Hall of the Royal Academy of Music. The program was expansive and diverse, with more than 80 musicians performing 10 ‘dialogues’, in which one piece of music from the western tradition and one from the eastern were performed alternately, or even directly in conversation with one another. The Sino-British orchestra features musicians from China, the UK, India, Germany, Italy, Romania and other countries, and also foregrounded pieces and musical styles from China’s ethnic minority musical traditions.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has highlighted how China in its history has long cherished the notion of “harmony without uniformity.” In a speech at UNESCO headquarters in 2015 titled ‘Exchanges and Mutual Learning Make Civilizations Richer and More Colorful’, President Xi quoted Yan Zi, prime minister of the State of Qi during the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC), who is recorded as observing: “Only by combining the texture, length, rhythm, mood, tone, pitch and style adequately and executing them properly can you produce an excellent melody… Who can tolerate the same tone played again and again with one instrument?”[1] This observation matches the purpose of the concert: appreciating the new connections and possibilities that can be created when diverse musical traditions and peoples are brought into contact. As the enormous interest in apps like RedNote has shown, people in both East and West are intensely curious to make connections with one another, and the results are ‘win-win’ when they do. Events like the Sino-British concert are a wonderful way to establish and strengthen these sorts of links.

For those interested in similar events in future, check SACU’s website at Home – Society for Anglo-Chinese Understanding (SACU)

[1] Xi Jinping, The Governance of China Vol 1, pp. 283 – 289.

Pragmatism not ideology should define Britain’s relationship with China

In the following article, which was originally published in the Morning Star, our co-editor Keith Bennett assesses the recent China visit by UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves, the highest profile British visit to the country since Theresa May visited as Prime Minister in January-February 2018.

Keith notes that the visit, “restarted the Economic and Financial Dialogue (EFD) between the two countries, delivered limited but definite gains for the British economy, and was mired in domestic political controversy.”

Outlining the hesitant and partial nature of the Labour government’s re-engagement with China, and the backlash that even such tentative moves have engendered, he concludes:

The moves by the Labour government to reengage positively with China, limited and partial as they are, need to be welcomed. But the labour and trade union movement should press for them to go much further if Britain is to secure the jobs and investment we need and if we are to work constructively to tackle global challenges. This, in turn, will require standing up to the most reactionary sections of the ruling class and doubtless also to the incoming Trump administration across the Atlantic.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves returned to London on Monday January 13, following a three-day visit to China that took her to Beijing and Shanghai.

This first visit by a British Chancellor to the Asian economic giant in more than five years restarted the Economic and Financial Dialogue (EFD) between the two countries, delivered limited but definite gains for the British economy, and was mired in domestic political controversy.

In protocol terms, the high point of Reeves’s visit was her meeting with Chinese Vice-President Han Zheng.

According to the Xinhua News Agency, Han said that China and Britain are both major economies and financial heavyweights in the world, adding that strengthening economic and financial co-operation in the spirit of strategic partnership is of great significance to promoting economic growth, improving people’s lives and encouraging green development in the two countries.

China, he added, is willing to continue to expand openness and exchanges with Britain, enhance mutual understanding and trust, and deepen mutually beneficial co-operation to bring more benefits to the two countries and the world.

The news agency quoted Reeves as replying that the British side attaches importance to developing relations with China and is willing to strengthen candid dialogue and mutually beneficial co-operation to promote the economic development of each country.

The Economic and Financial Dialogue was co-chaired by Reeves and Vice-Premier He Lifeng. According to the British side, the total value of what was agreed is worth £600 million over the next five years for the British economy.

A briefing paper released by HM Treasury added: “Overall, this government’s re-engagement with China already sets us on course to deliver up to £1 billion of value for the UK economy.”

However, details of how the latter figure, in particular, was arrived at remain scant to non-existent.

Regarding the former figure, a Treasury factsheet drew particular attention to financial services, asserting that financial markets play an important role “in tackling shared global issues — whether climate change, biodiversity loss or ageing populations — and in delivering growth and prosperity” and welcoming China’s decision to grant new commercial licences and quota allocations for British firms, its commitment to issuing an inaugural offshore sovereign green bond in Britain in 2025, and Bank of China London branch’s intention to issue new dual currency sustainability related bonds in Britain in 2025.

Continue reading Pragmatism not ideology should define Britain’s relationship with China

Chinese Embassy in London comments on tidal wave of McCarthyite propaganda

The recent decision by Britain’s Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) to uphold the ban on a Chinese businessman from entering the UK on supposed grounds of “national security” has predictably unleashed a tidal wave of McCarthyite ‘red scare’ propaganda and witch-hunting heavily overladen with thinly disguised racial prejudice on the part of the right-wing media and a number of parliamentarians who are yet to see an anti-China bandwagon that they are not desperate to jump on. The ban was originally imposed by then Home Secretary Suella Braverman.

Braverman is a notorious and shameless extreme right-wing demagogue who in January 2023 was told by a holocaust survivor: “When I hear you using words against refugees like ‘swarms’ and an ‘invasion’, I am reminded of the language used to dehumanise and justify the murder of my family and millions of others.”

Earlier, in October 2022, she said that she would love to see a front page of the hard right Daily Telegraph reporting the sending of asylum seekers to Rwanda, describing it as her “dream” and “obsession”. In November 2023, she callously proposed new laws in England and Wales to limit the use of tents by homeless people, stating that many of them see homelessness as “a lifestyle choice”.

Describing demonstrations in support of the Palestinian people and against genocide as “hate marches”, she wrote to Chief Constables: “I would encourage police to consider whether chants such as: ‘From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free’… in certain contexts may amount to a racially aggravated section 5 public order offence,” adding that, “behaviours that are legitimate in some circumstances, for example the waving of a Palestinian flag, may not be legitimate such as when intended to glorify acts of terrorism.”

She has boasted of having “close family members who serve in the Israel Defense Forces”, yet has also spoken of being engaged in a “battle against Cultural Marxism”, a term generally associated with anti-semitism.

Responding to the tabling of an “urgent question” on the issue in the House of Commons on December 16, the spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in London commented:

“As for the anti-China clamours made by a handful of UK MPs, they have done nothing but fully revealed their twisted mentality towards China, as well as their arrogance and shamelessness. This is a typical case of a thief crying ‘catch thief’. What they are really up to is to smear China, target against the Chinese community in the UK and undermine normal personnel exchanges between China and the UK.”

The spokesperson added: “We always believe that a sound and stable China-UK relationship is not a one-sided favour but what meets the common interests of both sides… We urge the UK side to immediately stop creating trouble, stop anti-China political manipulations, and stop undermining normal personnel exchanges between China and the UK.”

Earlier, speaking to the Morning Star newspaper, Robert Griffiths, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Britain (CPB), noted that it, “may be no coincidence that this story has resurfaced at the very time the Labour government says it wants to improve economic relations with China.”

An editorial in the same newspaper criticised “the determination of parts of the ruling class to prevent any warming of relations between Britain and China under the new Labour government, which has, so far, seemed marginally more willing than its predecessors to consider cooperation rather than conflict with a country that is the world’s second-largest economy, biggest manufacturer, and a global leader across multiple emerging technologies, including in the crucial renewable energy sector.

“‘Decoupling’ from China will hurt British industry, disrupt a green transition and carries the historically demonstrable risk that trade wars precede actual wars.”

The following article was originally published on the website of the Chinese Embassy in London.

Question: It is reported that the businessman banned from entering the UK has asked his legal team to disclose his identity. This businessman has also made it clear in a statement that he has done nothing wrong or unlawful. In the meantime, the UK Parliament this afternoon heard an urgent question on this issue, during which a few MPs continued to accuse the businessman of being a “Chinese spy”. What is your comment?

Embassy Spokesperson: We have noticed that the businessman has issued a statement to make a clarification.

As for the anti-China clamours made by a handful of UK MPs, they have done nothing but fully revealed their twisted mentality towards China, as well as their arrogance and shamelessness. This is a typical case of a thief crying “catch thief”. What they are really up to is to smear China, target against the Chinese community in the UK and undermine normal personnel exchanges between China and the UK. We strongly condemn this.

I must point out that the CPC and the Chinese government uphold that countries should pursue friendship and cooperation on the basis of mutual respect for each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, non-interference in each other’s internal affairs, equality and mutual benefit. This is what we have been saying and what we have been doing. This is also why China has so many friends around the world.

I also want to reiterate that the United Front led by the CPC endeavours to bring together various political parties and people from all walks of life, ethnic groups and organisations to promote cooperation between the CPC and people who are not members of it and promote people-to-people exchanges and friendship with other countries. This is above-board and beyond reproach. Though some UK politicians attempted to demonise China’s United Front work, they are doomed to fail.

We always believe that a sound and stable China-UK relationship is not a one-sided favour but what meets the common interests of both sides. The UK side must have a right perception of China, see the historical trend clearly, and handle its relations with China on the basis of mutual respect, non-interference in each other’s internal affairs, equality and mutual benefit.

We urge the UK side to immediately stop creating trouble, stop anti-China political manipulations, and stop undermining normal personnel exchanges between China and the UK.

Assessing recent high level encounters between Britain and China

In the following article, which was originally published by the Morning Star, Kenny Coyle assesses the significance of two recent high level encounters between Britain’s new Labour government and China, namely Foreign Secretary David Lammy’s China visit in October and Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s meeting with President Xi Jinping the next month, in the margins of the G-20 Summit in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro.

Comparing and contrasting the Chinese and British read outs of the two meetings, Kenny notes how Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi rebuffed Lammy’s attempts to interfere in China’s internal affairs, forcing him, with what Kenny wittily describes as a “double-Lammy”, into stating that: “Britain  remains steadfast in honouring its commitment to the Taiwan question since the establishment of diplomatic relations and will stick to it in the long term.”

Kenny then spells out exactly what this means: “Although you wouldn’t know from Britain’s readout, which does not mention Taiwan even once, Wang Yi made Lammy squirm. The British side essentially had to reiterate longstanding British policy, dating back to 1972 in the [Sir Edward] Heath era, where Lammy’s predecessor as foreign secretary, Sir Alec Douglas-Home, stated to the House of Commons that: ‘The government of the United Kingdom acknowledge the position of the Chinese government that Taiwan is a province of the People’s Republic of China.

“‘Both the government of the People’s Republic of China and Taipei maintain that Taiwan is a part of China. We held the view both at Cairo and at Potsdam that Taiwan should be restored to China. That view has not changed. We think that the Taiwan question is China’s internal affair to be settled by the Chinese people themselves.’”

It need only be added that given Lammy’s general level of (in)competence and manifest unsuitability for his current position, it is highly likely that he was utterly clueless as to what Alec Douglas-Home might have said on the matter when the two countries established full diplomatic relations. It is at least equally likely that Douglas-Home’s knowledge of the international agreements forged towards the end of World War II was considerably superior to that of the present Foreign Secretary.

Kenny also focuses on the absence of any mention of Xinjiang in the British read out of Starmer’s meeting with President Xi, let alone of any question of supposed genocide in the Chinese autonomous region, a preposterous charge that the hapless Lammy in particular was previously all too happy to bandy about.

As Kenny notes: “The current and previous British governments stand accused of complicity in a televised, live-streamed genocide, namely the one in Gaza. Starmer’s own rancid apologetics for Israeli war crimes is a matter of public record.”

Indeed, it was in the same month as Starmer’s meeting that 37 rights organisations excoriated Lammy’s wilful obfuscation and denial with regard to the all too real ongoing genocide in Gaza. (The full text and list of signatories may be found here.)

Similarly, and ironically on the very day that Starmer met Xi, William Schabas, former president of the International Association of Genocide Scholars and the author of more than 20 books on genocide and other international law topics, lacerated both Starmer and Lammy for their denial of the Gaza genocide. He told Middle East Eye:

 “These people are hypocrites. They speak with a forked tongue. They do not interpret or apply the Genocide Convention in a consistent manner.”

Regarding the situation in Xinjiang, he added: “There is no serious evidence of killings. Not millions. None. The treatment of Uyghurs in China and that of Palestinian Arabs cannot be compared.”

TWICE over the past two months, senior British government figures have met with their Chinese counterparts. The first encounter was Foreign Secretary David Lammy’s meeting with Chinese foreign policy chief Wang Yi in Beijing in October; the second was the talk between Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil in November.

As is usual with high-level diplomatic bilateral meetings, the full transcripts of the discussions have not been disclosed. Aside from initial pleasantries and photo opportunities, the substantial items of these bilateral talks are always private and confidential.

What we can glean from these two meetings for now is set out in the official “readouts” issued by each government. These readouts are usually predictably formulaic. First, each side indulges in diplomatic pleasantries, second, they highlight areas of broad agreement, and then subtly, the readout may mention issues of disagreement. Finally, it often ends with anodyne suggestions along the lines of “We really should catch up more.”

A careful inspection of the readouts of Lammy’s meeting with Wang Yi and the Starmer-Xi Rio talks is helpful for revealing not just what they say but what they don’t.

If we look at Britain’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FDCO) interpretation of the October Lammy meeting, it starts positively enough. It sets out shared aims of “achieving the global green transition” and “promoting secure and resilient growth through increased trade and investment, which creates jobs, drives innovation, boosts productivity and provides economic stability and certainty” for the British economy. They agreed that Britain and China can support both countries” growth objectives.”

Britain’s readout then moves on to obvious areas of difference on the Nato-Russian war in Ukraine and the crises in west Asia (Middle East).

“The Foreign Secretary urged Wang Yi to take all measures to investigate and to prevent Chinese companies from supplying Russia’s military. The Foreign Ministers agreed to continue to discuss this and other broader foreign policy issues, such as the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.”

No mention of preventing Britain from supplying Israel’s military, of course, but no big surprises here.

Then Lammy unwisely turns to China’s internal affairs.

“Human Rights were discussed, including in Xinjiang, and the Foreign Secretary referenced this as an area in which Britain and China must engage, even where viewpoints diverge. Hong Kong is a shared interest, and the Foreign Secretary raised serious concerns around the implementation of the National Security Law and the ongoing treatment of British national Jimmy Lai, again calling for his release.”

How does China’s readout of the same meeting compare? Beijing’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs note largely agrees with the FCDO on the obvious benefits of co-operation rather than conflict.

“The British Labour government has put forward the proposal to develop a long-term, stable and strategically significant relationship with China. The Chinese side has positively evaluated this proposal, as it conforms to the historical logic and practical needs of the bilateral relationship, serves the fundamental interests of the two peoples, and aligns with the historical trend and the international situation.”

But then comes the pushback. First of all, Wang Yi gently reminds Britain’s Foreign Secretary that an MP for Tottenham lecturing China on Chinese soil about Chinese issues is hardly conducive to the “bilateral engagement” that Britain leaders claim to seek.

“Noting that Taiwan and Hong Kong affairs are China’s internal affairs, and non-interference in internal affairs is a fundamental principle of international relations, Wang said both sides should respect each other’s concerns, strengthen dialogue on the basis of equality, enhance understanding, and create an atmosphere for communication and co-operation.

Then the Chinese move in for the second strike, a double-Lammy, if you will.

“Britain remains steadfast in honouring its commitment to the Taiwan question since the establishment of diplomatic relations and will stick to it in the long term, Lammy said.”

Although you wouldn’t know from Britain’s readout, which does not mention Taiwan even once, Wang Yi made Lammy squirm. The British side essentially had to reiterate longstanding British policy, dating back to 1972 in the Heath era, where Lammy’s predecessor as foreign secretary, Sir Alec Douglas-Home, stated to the House of Commons that: “The government of the United Kingdom acknowledge the position of the Chinese government that Taiwan is a province of the People’s Republic of China.

“Both the government of the People’s Republic of China and Taipei maintain that Taiwan is a part of China. We held the view both at Cairo and at Potsdam that Taiwan should be restored to China. That view has not changed. We think that the Taiwan question is China’s internal affair to be settled by the Chinese people themselves.”

Naturally, this does not sit well with the increasingly visible and well-funded Taiwan-separatist lobby at Westminster. It shows, of course, that what British leaders tell China is not necessarily what they tell the British people.

Tellingly, Lammy downgraded the Xinjiang question from one of alleged and utterly unproven “genocide,” a pre-election position held by the Parliamentary Labour Party, to the vague but unimpeachable appeal to human rights.

The Downing Street readout on the November 18 Rio summit was terse, just eight paragraphs. This is the key one.

“The Prime Minister said that he also wanted to engage honestly and frankly on those areas where we have different perspectives, including on Hong Kong, human rights and Russia’s war in Ukraine.”

No mention of Xinjiang at all, nor of Israel’s genocide in Gaza, not even Taiwan.

A number of commentators have assumed that the policy shift on Xinjiang is related purely to the Starmer government’s hope to reset economic relations with Beijing, see for example, “Labour backtracks on Uighur ‘genocide’ stance as Lammy heads to China” (Daily Telegraph, October 17). However, given Britain’s continued utilisation of the Hong Kong situation, this is unlikely to be the whole story.

One other explanation is that the Xinjiang genocide propaganda simply hasn’t worked where it was supposed to. The majority Muslim countries of west, central and south-east Asia have, more often than not, expressed guarded support or at least sympathy for China’s view that one key factor in the Xinjiang question is the role of global Islamist extremist networks and terrorist groups.

Uighur terrorists have been apprehended as far afield as Thailand and Indonesia, for example. The recent resurgence of terrorist attacks in Syria’s Aleppo region, which by sheer coincidence synchronised with the Lebanon-Israel ceasefire, involves armed groups drawn from several Turkic-speaking terror groups. These include Chinese Uighur fighters from the Al Qaida-linked Katibat al Ghuraba al Turkistan (KGT).

Or perhaps, just as with the allegations of Tibetan genocide, which notably intensified in the run-up to the Beijing Olympics in 2008 and then gradually dissipated, there is neither the evidence nor continuing credulity to sustain these propaganda projects.

However, there may be yet another rather more obvious reason.

The current and previous British governments stand accused of complicity in a televised, live-streamed genocide, namely the one in Gaza. Starmer’s own rancid apologetics for Israeli war crimes is a matter of public record.

Whether through shame, embarrassment, or guilt, the British Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary have good reason to drop the term genocide from their anti-China rhetoric. It seems Starmer and Lammy, or their advisers, are fully conscious of this absurd and self-incriminating juxtaposition.

Reflecting on the history of solidarity between the peoples of China and Wales

The Communist Party of Britain (CPB) held its Welsh national congress in Pontypridd on November 30, 2024.

In addition to summing up its work since its last Congress, analysing the current situation in Wales and charting its path ahead in the next period, it welcomed Liz Payne from the CPB’s Executive Committee, along with four guest speakers, namely:

  • Beth Winter, Labour MP for Cynon Valley, 2019-2024, who recently resigned her Labour membership in protest at the party’s steady rightward trajectory under Keir Starmer
  • Owain Meiron from Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg (the Welsh Language Society)
  • Twm Draper from Cymru Cuba; and
  • Keith Bennett from Friends of Socialist China

In his contribution, Twm said in part:

I was lucky enough to visit Cuba for May Day in 2022 as part of a Young Workers Trade Union delegation. I had the opportunity to see firsthand the benefits a socialist country can bring. One example was the creation of vaccines to protect people against Covid and sharing their supplies with developing countries. A true sign of solidarity and internationalism.

We also heard about how the Young Communist League in Cuba was at the forefront during lockdowns, helping their neighbours in isolation to get essentials whilst keeping the community safe.

May Day had to be the highlight of the trip and something I’ve never experienced before or since. The march saw close to one million workers being celebrated for their contributions to society and every role was seen as equally important. The respect for workers and the importance of union organisation could be seen in all aspects of society.

Whilst this brought me hope that a different future is possible in Britain, it was clear how the inhumane 64-year-old US blockade impacts Cuban lives on a daily basis.

Whilst Cuban doctors were able to create five Covid vaccines, this was out of necessity because the US blockade played with Cuban lives, preventing them getting medical supplies such as needles to administer the vaccines.

At the beginning of this month, Cuba was without electricity for a second time in a matter of weeks following another hurricane. Due to the US blockade, Cuba was unable to import repair parts or fuel, leaving millions without electricity

These are just a couple of examples of many where the US blockade impacts Cubans’ lives daily. And despite everything Cuba is faced with, they remain true to their internationalist values of sharing the resources and expertise that they have with the rest of the world.

We have been promoting and enjoying the people’s release of ‘Comrade Tambo’s London Recruits’ this week. Cuba was at the forefront of internationalist action. In the words of Nelson Mandela, ‘if it were not for Cuba, I would not be a free man today.’”

In his contribution, Keith focused on outlining some of the history of people-to-people ties between Wales and China and of the mutual support and solidarity between the working class and peoples of the two nations.

The main congress resolution, adopted unanimously, identified one of the party’s priorities in the coming period as being to: “Improve and increase the work of the Communist Party in the peace and international solidarity movements in Wales, not least through Stop the War Cymru, CND Cymru, the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Cymru-Cuba and Friends of Socialist China.”

We publish the text of Keith’s remarks below. A report on the congress was published by the Morning Star.

Dear Comrades

First, on behalf of Friends of Socialist China, I would like to extend warmest greetings to all members of the Communist Party in Wales. Thank you for the invitation to attend your Congress and to make a presentation. We wish success to all your deliberations.

Friends of Socialist China is a young organisation. We were set up in May 2021, with the goal of supporting the People’s Republic of China and spreading understanding of Chinese socialism. We have, throughout, enjoyed excellent working and comradely relations with the Communist Party of Britain, along with the Young Communist League and the Morning Star. One of our very first activities was a joint webinar, organised with the Morning Star, to celebrate the centenary of the Communist Party of China, held on July 3, 2021.

With China playing an ever more important role in the world, with its continuing advance along the road to socialism, as well as the daily more acute international situation, not least the new Cold War, we believe that the need for an organisation such as ours has never been greater.

I could speak further about this, but you can find plenty of material on our website, socialistchina.org, in the books and pamphlets available at the back, including ‘The East is still Red’, written by my comrade Carlos Martinez and ‘People’s China at 75: The Flag stays Red’, as well as in the regular excellent features and editorials in the Morning Star, including today’s centre spread on ‘China’s bridges to a socialist future’.

Continue reading Reflecting on the history of solidarity between the peoples of China and Wales

Keir Starmer dares to lecture President Xi on human rights?!

As we reported last week, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer held his first in-person meeting with President Xi Jinping on November 18 on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro. As we noted in our introduction to that report, “much of the goodwill generated by the meeting would have been spoiled by Starmer’s tactless and undiplomatic behaviour in publicly raising a number of contentious issues”.

In the video embedded below, Andy Boreham, a journalist from New Zealand who lives in Shanghai and speaks fluent Mandarin, reports on the meeting, observing that Britain is not in a position to lecture China on human rights, given its shameful support for Israel’s genocide in Gaza and its repression of British citizens who express solidarity with the Palestinian people, including Asa Winstanley and Craig Murray.

Mr Starmer, you have absolutely no right to lecture anyone on human rights.

Andy notes that Starmer also raised the case of Jimmy Lai, who is charged with conspiracy to collude with foreign forces and to publish seditious material. Andy points out that “Lai used his influence and money to try to destabilize China. He’s now facing the legal consequences of his actions – consequences he’d face in any country, including the UK.”

The video also takes up the story that appeared in the Western media that Chinese officials “kicked out” British journalists when Starmer raised the issue of human rights. Andy explains that it’s standard practice for journalists to only be allowed to attend the first few minutes of meetings between world leaders, before the discussion of substantive issues begins, and this is exactly what happened in this instance.

The video was first posted on the Reports on China YouTube channel.

Xi Jinping meets Keir Starmer in Brazil

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer held his first in person meeting with China’s President Xi Jinping on November 18, on the sidelines of the G20 summit, being held in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro. The two men had previously held a telephone conversation on August 23.

In his opening remarks, borrowing from the British Labour Party’s stated policy goals, Xi noted that the new government was “working to fix the foundations of the economy and rebuild Britain.” He added that while the two countries differ in history, culture, values, and social systems, they share extensive common interests and enjoy vast space for cooperation in such areas as trade and investment, clean energy, financial services, healthcare and people’s well-being, which should be further expanded to better benefit both peoples.

Starmer responded by saying that, in advancing their shared goals, his approach would be consistent, respectful and pragmatic.  The Prime Minister’s office’s read out of the meeting, added: “On climate, in particular, both said that this should be high on the agenda and there was more work to be done to accelerate global progress towards net zero. Both the UK and China have an important role to play in support of the global clean power transition.”

The British Prime Minister welcomed the recent visit to Beijing and Shanghai by Foreign Secretary David Lammy, looked forward to the planned China visit by Chancellor Rachel Reeves, planned for early next year, and expressed hope for the resumption of full, high-level bilateral engagement with China, which has been interrupted over recent years.

However, much of the goodwill generated by the meeting would have been spoiled by Starmer’s tactless and undiplomatic behaviour in publicly raising a number of contentious issues, in particular the case of Jimmy Lai, publisher of the former scurrilous newspaper, Apple Daily, who has been described by the Chinese Embassy in London as, “one of the most notorious anti-China elements bent on destabilising Hong Kong…  Jimmy Lai was a major plotter and instigator of the anti-China riots in Hong Kong. He blatantly colluded with external forces in jeopardising national security, solicited foreign support, and committed various sinful deeds.”

It is, of course, an act of the most revolting and blatant hypocrisy for Starmer, who has defended and abetted Israeli genocide in Gaza, the most egregious violation of human rights in the world at present, and who continues to do so; and whose government is engaged in a brutal campaign of politically motivated persecution and attempted intimidation of journalists who dare to point out the truth of what is happening in Gaza and elsewhere in the Middle East, such as Richard Medhurst, Sarah Wilkinson and Asa Winstanley, to accuse the leaders of other countries of abuses of human rights or violations of press freedom.

In its editorial comment on the meeting, the Morning Star described it as “long overdue”, noting:

“There is plenty of room for growth, especially in exports to China, where Britain lags far behind Germany, France and Italy. Relaxing the US-inspired ban on selling key electronic, micro-processing and [supposed] ‘dual use’ (civilian-military) engineering products to China would help.

“Restrictions on Chinese investment in Britain already hold back the roll-out of 5G technology and the application of quantum physics – in which China leads the world – to computing, communications, geology and medicine.”

The following articles were originally published by the Xinhua News Agency and the Morning Star.

Xi calls on China, Britain to adopt rational, objective perspective on each other’s development

RIO DE JANEIRO, Nov. 18 — China and Britain should adopt a rational and objective perspective on each other’s development, Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Monday.

Xi made the remarks when meeting with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on the sidelines of the 19th G20 Leaders’ Summit.

The two countries should enhance strategic communication and deepen political mutual trust to ensure a steady, substantial, and enduring development of bilateral relations, he said.

Noting that the world has entered a new period of turbulence and transformation, Xi said that China and Britain, both as permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and major global economies, share the responsibilities of advancing their respective national development and addressing global challenges.

Both countries should stick to their strategic partnership, adhere to the principles of mutual respect, open cooperation, and mutual learning, strive for mutual benefit and win-win outcomes, and jointly write the next chapter of healthy and stable development of bilateral relations, he added.

Continue reading Xi Jinping meets Keir Starmer in Brazil

Alex Salmond – a great and sincere friend of China

Friends of Socialist China expresses its sincere condolences following the shocking death of Alex Salmond, who died on October 12, 2024, from a massive heart attack while attending an international conference in North Macedonia. The enduring contribution he made to political life was reflected in the tributes paid from across the political spectrum, in Scotland, the UK and beyond, as well as from people of all walks of life, not least in the minute of applause by thousands of Scotland football fans ahead of their team’s international match against Portugal on October 15.

The founder and leader of the Alba Party, Salmond served as the First Minister of Scotland from 2007-2014. He also served as the leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) from 1990-200 and from 2004-2014. He founded the Alba Party in 2021.

Alex Salmond was a great and sincere friend of China.  He strongly supported friendship and cooperation with China throughout his time as Scotland’s First Minister. The March 2014 edition of ‘Voice of Friendship’, the magazine of the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, reported on his November 2013 visit to Beijing, describing him as, “an old friend who visited China successively in the years from 2009-2011.”

On that occasion, Salmond presented State Councillor Yang Jiechi with his government’s document, ‘Scotland’s Strategy for Stronger Engagement with China’.

Reporting his visit to the Confucius Institute Headquarters, ‘Voice of Friendship’ noted: “Since he took office, Mr. Salmond has attached great importance to carrying out cultural exchanges with China. Right now, Confucius Institutes have been set up in four universities and Confucius Classrooms in 13 primary and secondary schools in Scotland, with a total of 150 schools and institutions teaching Mandarin.”

When the Conservative government threatened to ban Confucius Institutes in 2022, in contrast to some fair-weather ‘friends’, Salmond retorted:

“This is the sort of Cold War mentality on display by Westminster which ends in hot wars. The Scottish Government should defend these valuable cultural exchanges and oppose any attempts by the UK Government to close them down. We have nothing to fear from talking and exchanging culture. The real danger is from those who wish to divide the world into armed camps and who wish to shut Scotland out from the international community.”

Just last month, he gave an interview to the Xinhua News Agency, in which he identified wind energy as one of the potential areas for cooperation between Scotland and China.  He expressed enthusiasm for Chinese involvement in Scotland’s wind energy sector, “particularly given both sides’ substantial expertise in both onshore and offshore wind power.”

“I hope to see greater collaboration between Chinese and Scottish experts in both continental and offshore wind power,” he said.

Salmond’s unwavering backing for friendship and mutually beneficial cooperation with China, and his opposition to the new Cold War, was consistent with his overall political stance. Along with Jeremy Corbyn and George Galloway – both of whom paid tribute to him – he was one of a handful of leading British politicians to oppose all imperialist wars in his political lifetime, including those against Yugoslavia, Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya.

He was a strong and passionate supporter of the Palestinian people. Middle East Eye reported:

“The former Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond, who died unexpectedly during a conference in North Macedonia at the weekend, was one of the most vocally pro-Palestinian western leaders of his generation and a vociferous opponent of the Iraq war.

“The former SNP leader was a longtime supporter of the Palestinian cause. In 2004, he opposed Britain’s abstention on a UN resolution condemning Israel’s assassination of Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin.

“Then in 2010, as SNP leader, Salmond slammed Israel’s assassination of Hamas member Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai.

“As first minister, he called for an embargo on arms sales to Israel in August 2014, amid Israel’s bombardment of Gaza.

“Salmond later stirred controversy in 2016 as a representative for UK in Europe by attacking the Israeli representative for criticising Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s presence in France during a Holocaust commemoration service.

“His pro-Palestinian stance continued after his departure from the SNP in 2018, and when he became leader of a new pro-independence party called the Alba Party from 2021 onwards.

“Earlier this month Salmond slammed Britain’s Labour government on social media platform X, asking: ‘Is the UK to ‘stand with Israel’ in Gaza, in Lebanon, in flagrant breaches of international law, in tens of thousands of civilian deaths over the last year?’

‘This was in response to Starmer promising support for Israel after it was hit by an Iranian missile attack.

“Salmond added: ‘Britain is the former colonial power and the Middle East is one of the few areas where what is said by the PM actually matters.

“‘Would a better policy not be to simply say ‘we stand to uphold international law and unequivocally back the UN’s pursuit of peace?’”

“Earlier this year he also made headlines for demanding that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu be arrested ‘and sent to the courts’ if he steps foot on Scottish soil, following the International Criminal Court’s prosecutor seeking an arrest warrant for Israeli and Hamas leaders.”

Middle East Eye further reported:

“Salmond firmly opposed Britain’s invasion alongside the US of Iraq in 2003, and later said there was ‘substantial evidence’ that Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair had intended to deceive the public.

“In 2016 as the SNP foreign affairs spokesperson, Salmond tabled an unsuccessful motion in the House of Commons calling for parliamentary committees to investigate Blair.

“In 2015, Salmond… led a mission to Tehran to boost business and cultural links between Scotland and Iran.”

Domestically, as First Minister of Scotland, Salmond implemented a number of progressive policies favourable to working people, including free prescriptions and free university tuition.

China’s Consul General in Edinburgh has sent a letter of condolences to the First Minister of Scotland mourning the death of Alex Salmond.

We take this opportunity to express our condolences to Alex’s wife Moira, his other family members, his colleagues in the Alba Party and his countless friends.

We reprint below the statement from the family and also embed a short clip from Alba’s conference in May this year, in which Alex speaks on the ongoing genocide in Gaza with passion and principle.

Family Statement on the Death of Alex Salmond

The family of Alex Salmond would like to extend our sincere thanks for the many hundreds of kind messages, calls and cards.

Alex was a formidable politician, an amazing orator, an outstanding intellect, and admired throughout the world. He loved meeting people and hearing their stories, and showed incredible kindness to those who needed it. He dedicated his adult life to the cause he believed in – independence for Scotland. His vision and enthusiasm for Scotland and the Yes movement were both inspirational and contagious.

But to us, first and foremost, he was a devoted and loving husband, a fiercely loyal brother, a proud and thoughtful uncle and a faithful and trusted friend.

In our darkest of family moments, he was always the one who got us through, making this time even more difficult, as he is not here for us to turn to. His resilience and optimism knew no bounds.

He led us to believe in better. Without Alex, life will never be the same again. But he would want us to continue with his life’s work for independence, and for justice, and that is what we shall do. “The dream shall never die.”

Moira, Margaret, Gail, Bob, Neil, Ian, Karen, Christina and Mark

Alex Gordon: PRC’s 75th anniversary a moment of hope and inspiration for peoples around the world

The following is the text of the speech delivered by Alex Gordon to the opening session of our conference held on September 28 to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, “a moment of pride and achievement for the people of China, but also a moment of hope and inspiration for peoples around the world.”

Alex refers to President Xi Jinping’s May Day message this year to the Chinese working class as well as his letter to Serbian steel workers and contrasts this to the looming job cuts at the at the Port Talbot steel plant in South Wales.

He goes on to compare the fiasco of Britain’s HS2 high-speed rail project with the relevant experience in China:

“In the decade it took to turn HS2 from a rail infrastructure project into luxury homes opportunities for billionaires, China developed a 40,000 km publicly owned, high-speed rail network, the largest in world history.”

He also outlines the work of the Chinese trade union movement, noting that Xi Jinping had emphasised that the unions should earnestly safeguard the rights of workers and strive to solve practical problems concerning their vital interests, in particular for workers in new forms of employment.

Alex Gordon is the President of the rail workers and seafarers’ trade union RMT, the Chair of the Marx Memorial Library and Workers’ School and a member of the Political and Executive Committees of the Communist Party of Britain (CPB).

Chair, Minister, Your Excellencies, Comrades and Friends,

On behalf of the Executive Committee of the Communist Party of Britain (CPB), please allow me first to pay tribute to the great work and militant life of our late comrade Sitaram Yechury, General Secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI[M]). CPB General Secretary, Robert Griffiths has paid tribute to Comrade Sitaram in a eulogy published in the Morning Star. Comrade Sitaram was a friend of China, but also a friend of the CPB and did so much to strengthen and deepen the links between our two parties. We mourn his loss and send our condolences to all his comrades. Vale comrade.

The 75th anniversary of the founding of People’s China is a moment of pride and achievement for the people of China, but also a moment of hope and inspiration for peoples around the world.

On behalf of the CPB, I want to recognise also the significance of this achievement for the working class in our country. But my remarks apply to workers more widely across the developed G7 economies and beyond.

In his May Day greeting to China’s working people this year, President Xi Jinping called on them to “actively participate in advancing Chinese modernisation with high-quality development and work tirelessly to promote the building of a strong country and the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation on all fronts.” He asked party committees and government bodies at all levels to “realise, safeguard and develop the legitimate rights and interests of workers.”

President Xi also replied to a letter from Serbian workers at the HBIS Smederevo Steel Plant who he met on a state visit to Serbia in 2016.

Continue reading Alex Gordon: PRC’s 75th anniversary a moment of hope and inspiration for peoples around the world

Building a peaceful, nuclear-free tomorrow

The following text is of a speech by Sophie Bolt, incoming general secretary of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), at the World We Want conference held in London on 12 October 2024.

Sophie’s speech outlines the current geopolitical situation, in particular the risk of nuclear war, and the need for a mass movement to demand peace and disarmament. She observes that US global dominance is the number one obstacle in the way of a “peaceful, just, sustainable and nuclear-free world”. While many may have hoped that the end of the Cold War would have brought about a more peaceful world, the US developed an aggressive new strategy – the “Wolfowitz doctrine” – which aimed to prevent the rise of any rival power that could challenge US hegemony. “Using its political, economic and military might, the US has attempted to force countries to subordinate their economic and political interests to it. A carrot-and-stick approach, in which the US nuclear arsenal is the ultimate stick.”

Sophie notes that the global economic and political situation is changing, particularly with the emergence of China and the rise of BRICS. In a state of relative decline, the US is increasingly resorting to the use of military power to maintain and reassert its hegemony. “This is the key driver of global tensions which is pushing the world to the brink of destruction.”

The speech calls on the peace movement to mobilise against the US-led drive to war – including the New Cold War on China – and to support peace initiatives emerging from the Global South. For example, Brazil and China are coordinating towards peace talks between Russia and Ukraine; meanwhile South Africa has been blazing a trail on international legal action against Israel for its war crimes in Gaza.

Sophie concludes:

We must take hope and courage from these significant, progressive developments taking place across the global South. And the determined, committed movements that are growing here in the global North.

The text of the speech was first published in the Morning Star on 14 October 2024.

So, the world we want to see! For the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, we want a peaceful, just, sustainable and nuclear-free world. But, given where we currently are, how can we secure such a world?

From CND’s perspective, central to this question is overcoming the major obstacle — which is US global dominance.

Since the US atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, the US has pursued a military doctrine that allows no rival economic or military power to emerge that can challenge it.

Far from ending the second world war, the dropping of these nuclear bombs was a ruthless, barbaric act to ensure the US emerged as the major superpower. It was a warning to every other country.

The bombing unleashed the nuclear arms race and started the cold war, taking the world to the brink of nuclear annihilation.

Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, this doctrine was explicitly formalised, coined the “Wolfowitz doctrine,” after Paul Wolfowitz, under-secretary of defence to Dick Cheney. This is why — rather than disbanding Nato — the US aggressively expanded the nuclear-armed alliance right up to Russia’s borders.

Using its political, economic and military might, the US has attempted to force countries to subordinate their economic and political interests to it. A carrot-and-stick approach, in which the US nuclear arsenal is the ultimate stick.

But today, China’s economic growth has overtaken the US, and it is now the biggest economy in the world. Economic co-operation between Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — known as Brics — means these combined economies are larger than the G7. And this economic co-operation is growing, with Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia and the United Arab Emirates joining this year.

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British communist solidarity with China from the revolution to today

In this, the second of two articles outlining the history of relations between the communists of Britain and China, Robert Griffiths, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Britain (CPB), having briefly recapped some highlights from the 1920s, 30s and 40s, takes up the story from the proclamation of the People’s Republic of China on October 1, 1949.

Very soon after liberation, the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) was instrumental in the formation of the Britain-China Friendship Association (BCFA), which brought together left and progressive trade unionists, co-operators, scientists, academics, artists, writers, musicians and businesspeople, among others. However, in the face of the intensified cold war, and particularly Britain’s participation in the Korean War, the Labour Party placed the BCFA on its list of proscribed organisations. A number of Labour members were expelled from the party as a result, although, in the first half of the 1980s, one of them, Jim Mortimer, was to eventually become the party’s General Secretary.

Against a background of decades of uninterrupted solidarity, CPGB General Secretary Harry Pollitt paid the first of his three visits to China in 1955. The next year, along with Willie Gallacher and George Caborn, he was a fraternal delegate to the eighth national congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC).  And in 1959 he was present for the tenth anniversary celebrations of the People’s Republic.

The close friendship between the CPGB and the CPC did not survive the split between the Soviet and Chinese parties, which burst into the open in the early 1960s and divided communists throughout the world. Relations were not restored until the 1980s.

The collapse of the Soviet Union and the socialist countries of eastern Europe in 1989-91 created a new situation, with the first CPB delegation visiting China in 1995.

Comrade Griffiths concludes his article on a note of optimism, with the CPB, together with Friends of Socialist China, jointly celebrating the 75th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China and beginning to plan for further successful initiatives in 2025.

The article was originally published in the Morning Star. The preceding article, reviewing the earlier years, may be read here and the PDF of the full Morning Star supplement, in which it originally appeared can be downloaded here.

Continue reading British communist solidarity with China from the revolution to today

Britain’s communists and China

In the following article, Robert Griffiths, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Britain (CPB), surveys the proud history of solidarity between the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB, founded in 1920) and the Communist Party of China (CPC, founded in 1921), up to the founding of the People’s Republic in 1949 and the outbreak of war in Korea the following year.

Noting the British colonial presence in China since the seizure of Hong Kong in 1841, he writes that the CPGB was well aware of its responsibility in the “belly of the beast” to oppose British imperialism’s machinations.

After British colonial police shot down striking workers in Shanghai in May 1923, the CPGB launched a militant ‘Hands off China’ campaign. In 1927, Tom Mann, a leading CPGB trade unionist, embarked on a five-month mission to China on behalf of the Red International of Labour Unions.  Speaking on arrival, he accused the “British imperialist pirates” of filling history with numerous bloody pages.

In his maiden speech to parliament, having been elected as the Communist MP for West Fife in 1935, Willie Gallacher spoke out against the British government’s acquiescence in Japan’s aggression against China.

The Labour government of Clement Attlee announced its recognition of the newly founded People’s Republic on January 6, 1950, but less than a year later Chinese and British troops were confronting each other as the cold war turned hot on the Korean peninsula. The CPGB responded with a courageous ‘Hands off Korea’ campaign.

This article was originally carried in the special supplement marking the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, which was compiled and edited by Friends of Socialist China and published together with the Morning Star on Saturday, September 28, to coincide with our conference the same day.

The PDF of the full Morning Star supplement may be downloaded here.

Inspired by Russia’s Bolshevik Revolution, the Communist Party of China (CPC) held its founding congress in July 1921.

With the inability of the nationalist Kuomintang (KMT) to consolidate its authority and therefore its failure to lift the country out of its semi-colonial and semi-feudal state, intellectuals and workers had begun studying the ideas of Marxism.

Since Britain’s seizure of Hong Kong in 1841, other imperialist powers had carved up Chinese territory from Manchuria in the north to the island of Taiwan in the southeast, also taking control of bustling port cities from Shanghai down to Canton (now Guangzhou).

The British, Japanese and French ruling classes had waged wars, imposed treaties and suppressed popular rebellions in order to enforce their commercial interests, often in collaboration with the Qing dynasty or local warlords.

In 1919, student protests erupted in Beijing against the decision of the Great War allies to maintain their “international settlements” in China and specifically to transfer control of Shandong province from Germany to Japan. The May 4th Movement raised the banner of national sovereignty and democracy against this fresh humiliation.

Continue reading Britain’s communists and China

China’s ambassador to the UK: History inspires us to better relations

The following article by Zheng Zeguang, China’s Ambassador to the UK, was originally carried in the special supplement marking the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, which was compiled and edited by Friends of Socialist China and published together with the Morning Star on Saturday, September 28, to coincide with our conference the same day. It is the main body of the speech he delivered at the reception he hosted to mark the anniversary on the evening of September 25.

The Ambassador’s speech was carried in full on the website of the Chinese Embassy, along with a report on the reception. A response to the Ambassador’s speech, on behalf of the British government, was delivered by Catherine West MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.

The PDF of the full Morning Star supplement may be downloaded here.

Seventy-five years ago, the birth of New China marked the end of more than a century of humiliation for the country, and the beginning of the historic process of China’s rejuvenation.

Over the past 75 years, under the strong leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC), Chinese people of all ethnic groups have united as one and worked diligently to achieve two phenomenal miracles of rapid economic growth and long-term social stability.

In the new era, under the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, China has made historic achievements and gone through unprecedented transformation.

We have built a well-off society, and are working towards a great, modern socialist country in all respects. National rejuvenation is now on an irreversible course.

China’s composite national strength has achieved historic growth. Once a poor country, China is now the world’s second biggest economy, and the biggest manufacturer, biggest trader in goods, and the country with the biggest foreign exchange reserves.

Based on constant prices, China’s GDP in 2023 is 223 times larger than that of 1952. The average annual growth rate has been 7.9%.

China has become a scientific and technological powerhouse, and important advances have been made in the country’s national defence capabilities.

China is home to the world’s biggest middle-income group with the best growth potential. We have put in place the world’s largest medical, educational and social security systems. The quality of people’s lives has seen continuous improvement.

China’s development has been an engine for the global economy. From 1979 to 2023, China’s contribution to global economic growth averaged 24.8% annually, and for the period between 2013 and 2023, the figure was over 30%.

China itself is making remarkable progress in green and low carbon transition and is now the world’s biggest clean energy producer. In the meantime, China’s ‘new three’, namely, new energy vehicles, lithium batteries, and photovoltaic products are enabling other countries to expedite their transition.

As a developing country itself, China feels the desire of other developing countries for modernisation and is actually facilitating the modernisation of the Global South, through the Belt and Road Initiative and South-South cooperation.

By the end of 2023, the accumulated investment made by China in Belt and Road partner countries reached over two trillion RMB.

Chinese companies have helped to build Latin America’s first ultra-high-voltage transmission line, Africa’s first modern electrified railway, and its first digital mining project, among many other infrastructure and livelihood projects in developing countries.

China’s development has injected positive energy into world peace. Following an independent foreign policy of peace, China has been building friendship and cooperation with all countries on the basis of mutual respect, non-interference in each other’s internal affairs, equality and mutual benefit.

Over the past 75 years, China has never initiated any war or conflict and has never occupied an inch of other countries’ territory. We have always worked for peace and dialogue, and the political settlement of international disputes.

China has sent more troops to UN peacekeeping missions than any other permanent members of the Security Council. We are now the second biggest funding contributor to both the UN and its peacekeeping operations.

In the face of increasing volatility and transformation around the world, we call on all countries to work together to build a community with a shared future and call for an equal and orderly multipolar world and a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalisation. 

We stand ready to work with all parties to earnestly implement the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative, and the Global Civilisation Initiative, so as to bring about more stability and economic growth to this turbulent world.

As we speak, the Chinese people are going all out to achieve modernisation through our own path. Daunting as our mission may be, we have full confidence in achieving our goals.

In the next five years, we will complete over 300 reforms and further enhance our institutions in different sectors, as set out at the third plenum of the 20th CPC Central Committee.

With these measures, China’s productivity and social vitality will be further unleashed, the development momentum further reinforced, and new opportunities will be created for China’s cooperation with other countries.

The United Kingdom was among the first major Western countries to recognise New China. And it has been 52 years now since the two countries established full-fledged diplomatic relations.

History has taught us a lot about the relations between these two countries:

–Despite the differences in political system, history and culture, we have a lot in common and extensive shared interests.

–Exchanges and cooperation conform to the common aspiration of our peoples and serve the fundamental interests of both sides.

–With our respective advantages in economy, education and culture, there are great potentials for collaboration.

–We can contribute to the resolution of major international issues by working together, and this is also our responsibility as two permanent members of the United Nations Security Council.

Last month, President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Keir Starmer reached important common understanding in their phone call. They agreed that we should uphold mutual respect, enhance engagement, and expand cooperation.

And recently, Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Foreign Secretary David Lammy met in Laos, Vice Premier He Lifeng and Chancellor Rachel Reeves talked over the phone, and so did our energy ministers. Our two militaries have just conducted their consultations on defence strategies.

Going forward, we should work together to follow up on the understanding between our leaders and build a stable and mutually beneficial relationship.

The development of China-UK relations needs the support of people across different sectors from both countries.

We never forget the “Icebreakers” who opened the doors for trade between China and the UK in the 1950s.

We never forget that generation of statesmen from both countries who made the strategic decision to establish diplomatic relations 52 years ago.

And we never forget all those who have worked tirelessly to help connect our two peoples over the past seven decades.

All of them continue to give inspiration to us today.

I call on all of you to continue to support and take an active part in China-UK relations and make new contributions to the steady development of this relationship.

Xi Jinping speaks with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer

On August 23, Chinese President Xi Jinping had a phone conversation with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. What is believed to be the first conversation between the two men took place at Starmer’s request.

Having congratulated the British Prime Minister on his recent assumption of office, President Xi told Starmer that the two countries need to view their relations from a long-term and strategic perspective, continue to see each other as partners, strengthen dialogue and cooperation, and build a stable and mutually beneficial relationship that contributes to the well-being of the two countries and the world. China is committed to building a great country and achieving national rejuvenation on all fronts through a Chinese path to modernisation and follows a path of peaceful development. It is hoped that the UK will view China in an objective and rational manner.

He went on to say that China is moving faster to develop new quality productive forces and advance new industrialisation. These efforts will create new opportunities for the UK and countries around the world. China is prepared to have equal-footed and mutually respectful dialogue with the UK to enhance mutual understanding and trust, build greater synergy between the development strategies of the two countries, expand cooperation in such areas as financial services, green economy and artificial intelligence, and deepen people-to-people ties, thus making mutual benefit the defining feature of China-UK relations.

Starmer congratulated Chinese athletes on their excellent achievements at the Paris Olympics. He said that developing closer UK-China cooperation is in the long-term interests of both sides. Enhanced trade, financial, educational, energy and health cooperation supports the goals of both countries and helps address climate change and other global challenges. He reassured China there is no change to the UK’s long-term one-China policy.

We reprint below the report of the conversation that was originally published on the website of the Chinese Foreign Ministry. We also reproduce for reference the much briefer report that was posted on the British government’s website.

Xi Jinping Speaks with U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer on the Phone

On the afternoon of August 23, President Xi Jinping took a phone call from U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

President Xi congratulated Keir Starmer on assuming the office of the Prime Minister. President Xi noted that faced with transformation and volatility in the international landscape, China and the U.K., as permanent members of the United Nations Security Council as well as the world’s leading economies, need to view their relations from a long-term and strategic perspective, continue to see each other as partners, strengthen dialogue and cooperation, and build a stable and mutually beneficial relationship that contributes to the well-being of the two countries and the world. China is committed to building a great country and achieving national rejuvenation on all fronts through a Chinese path to modernization, and follows a path of peaceful development. It is hoped that the U.K. will view China in an objective and rational manner. The Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee laid out a strategic plan for further deepening reform comprehensively to advance Chinese modernization. China is moving faster to develop new quality productive forces and advance new industrialization. These efforts will create new opportunities for the U.K. and countries around the world. China is prepared to have equal-footed and mutually respectful dialogue with the U.K. to enhance mutual understanding and trust, build greater synergy between the development strategies of the two countries, expand cooperation in such areas as financial services, green economy and artificial intelligence, and deepen people-to-people ties, thus making mutual benefit the defining feature of China-U.K. relations.

Prime Minister Starmer congratulated Chinese athletes on their excellent achievements at the Paris Olympics. He said that developing closer U.K.-China cooperation is in the long-term interests of both sides. Enhanced trade, financial, educational, energy and health cooperation supports the goals of both countries and helps address climate change and other global challenges. The U.K. hopes to strengthen engagement and dialogue with China at all levels and in various areas, strive for positive results in practical cooperation and institutionalized exchanges between the two countries, and develop long-term, stable and strategic U.K.-China relations in the spirit of mutual respect. The U.K. will have regular dialogue with China on key international and regional issues to contribute to world security and stability. Prime Minister Starmer reassured China there is no change to the U.K.’s long-term one-China policy.

President Xi pointed out that China places high importance on the U.K.’s desire for more engagement and dialogue, and will maintain exchanges with the U.K. at all levels, promote steady and sustained progress in China-U.K. relations, and work together to advance global peace and development.

PM call with President Xi Jinping of China: 23 August 2024

The Prime Minister spoke to President Xi Jinping of China this morning.

The Prime Minister began by setting out his priorities for his government, including national security, secure borders and economic stability. 

The leaders discussed areas of shared collaboration, and potential areas of cooperation between the UK and China, including on trade, the economy and education.

As permanent members of the UN Security Council, the leaders agreed on the importance of close working in areas such as climate change and global security. 

The Prime Minister added that he hoped the leaders would be able to have open, frank and honest discussions to address and understand areas of disagreement when necessary, such as Hong Kong, Russia’s war in Ukraine and human rights. 

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

They agreed to stay in touch.