“An olive branch” from London: UK government reconsiders its stance on the so-called “Uighur genocide” on the eve of Lammy's visit to China
On the eve of his first visit to China, British Foreign Secretary David Lammy said the new Labour government “will take a pragmatic approach” to diplomatic relations with Beijing. Lammy arrived in the Chinese capital on Friday, October 18, for a two-day visit at the invitation of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. Speaking to reporters before leaving for Beijing, Lammy tried to keep a “constructive tone,” suggesting that there are areas in which Britain would like to deepen cooperation with China.
Days before Lammy’s visit to Beijing, the Labour Party, which is in the UK government, offered “an olive branch” to Chinese authorities by dropping its demand for “official recognition” of China’s treatment of Uighurs as “genocide,” instead insisting on a “more relaxed diplomatic approach” with the world’s second-largest economy. As the Guardian newspaper wrote, the U-turn “reflects the British government’s strong desire to improve relations with China and build closer economic ties.”
Nevertheless, Lammy, during his talks with Minister Wang, is expected to express “London’s strong concerns” about China’s alleged technical assistance to Russia accelerating its military offensive in Ukraine. As Chinese media immediately emphasized, Beijing’s response will contain “strong and firm condemnation” of the decision by the defense ministers of Japan and three other Indo-Pacific countries, made during their first meeting with NATO counterparts in Brussels, to “strengthen regional cooperation in response to China’s increased military assertiveness and the conflict in Ukraine.” Japanese Defense Minister Gen Nakatani, at his first NATO summit, called on Atlantic Alliance ministers and his counterparts from Australia, New Zealand, and South Korea to “intensify coordinated efforts against unilateral attempts to change the Indo-Pacific status quo by force or coercion.”