What signal was released?, The British Foreign Secretary's first visit to China in five years
On August 30th, British Foreign Secretary James Cleverley visited China. This is the first official visit of an African American Foreign Secretary to China in British history, and the first British Foreign Secretary to visit China in five years since Jeremy Hunter's visit to China in July 2018.
According to a report by the South China Morning Post, "During the 5-year gap between the visits of the two British Foreign Development Ministers to China, the entire world and the relationship between China and the UK have undergone significant changes."
Therefore, although Cleverley's visit to China was only for one day, it was a meaningful exploration journey to bridge the gap and gap in understanding over the past five years, and to explore future communication channels.
"Isolating China is a mistake"
On August 30th, The Guardian published a report titled "UK Foreign Secretary for Development: 'Isolating China is a mistake'". During his visit to China, Cleverley told the media that Britain hopes to establish a pragmatic relationship with China. He pointed out that isolating China, as the world's second-largest economy, would be a mistake.
Before his visit to China, Cleverley pointed out in an interview with the Financial Times that "it is very important to handle the relationship between the UK and China well", and if there is no contact with China, it will be a sign of "weakness" in the UK.
Kerry Brown, Dean of the China Studies Institute at King's College London, stated in an interview with China Central Television that dialogue between the UK and China is of significant significance. He emphasized, "The UK needs to engage in dialogue with China, be pragmatic, and balance. The visit of the UK Foreign Secretary for Development to China is precisely an opportunity to do so."
Can the UK decouple from China?
Just before Cleverley's visit to China, according to the BBC, there was also "timely" noise within the Conservative Party that emphasized Western values.
Many international experts have pointed out that this once again exposes the dual contradictions of the British government in domestic and foreign affairs. On the one hand, the UK, which chose to "Brexit", placed its bets on the US, dancing with the US in everything and adhering to the principles of beauty. But on the other hand, Britain, which has been heavily calculated by its allies on geopolitical issues such as the Russia-Ukraine conflict, urgently needs to improve its relations with China on such "hard truth" issues as economic development.
Especially since last year, the UK has experienced a cost of living crisis, with high inflation and the risk of economic recession at one point. As of now, although there has been no recession, the economy has been operating at a low level for a long time. The Conservative government suffered a severe setback in local elections in May, making improving people's livelihoods and addressing economic issues a top priority for the UK government at present.
△ UK government website's import and export trade data for the first quarter of 2023
According to the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the UK is China's third largest trading partner, second largest investment destination, and third largest source of foreign investment in Europe, and China is the UK's largest trading partner in Asia. In 2022, the bilateral trade volume between China and the UK reached 103.3 billion US dollars. According to the UK government website, the main commodities exported by the UK to China include automobiles, crude oil, and pharmaceuticals, while the main commodities imported by the UK from China are telecommunications equipment, handicrafts, office equipment, etc.
According to the Financial Times, at a meeting with about 15 British companies in China, Cleverley emphasized the necessity of avoiding decoupling from China.
Kerry Brown, an international expert at King's College London, also pointed out that it is unrealistic for the UK to decouple from China. He said, "However, it is unrealistic for us not to decouple from China. We cannot decouple from China, just like we cannot decouple from the United States and Europe. We must have a relationship, which is the kind of relationship we have. We give it priority, and China will also give it the same priority, covering multiple fields. This is the most reasonable path forward."
Kerry Brown analyzed that in recent years, high-level visits from China and the UK have not been frequent, and Cleverley's visit to China has sent a relatively positive signal, at least indicating that the UK government hopes to maintain cooperative relations with China.
It is worth mentioning that British Foreign Secretary Cleverley and US Commerce Secretary Raymond have visited China one after another, seamlessly connecting, which is also rare in recent years.
