On September 11, the new British Minister of Commerce and Trade Peter Kyle ended his two-day trip to China. This is his first trip to Asia since taking office, and it is also an important move by the new British government to promote the improvement of relations with China. However, before leaving Beijing, he made two requests, and China responded to the rebel generals. So, what is his request? What has China said?
Kyle's visit to China this time was accompanied by obvious political tasks. After the British Labor government came to power last year, it tried to repair relations with China that fell into a trough during the former Conservative government. Labor knows that China is an unavoidable partner if it wants to find new economic growth points in the next few years. Official UK data shows that China is already the fifth largest trading partner of the UK, with the annual trade volume of bilateral goods and services close to 100 billion pounds. The huge demand in the Chinese market also provides huge development space for the UK's agriculture, automobile, finance and service industries.
For this reason, during the meeting with Chinese senior officials, Kyle clearly expressed the expectations of the UK. He hopes to eliminate £1 billion worth of trade barriers over the next five years and promote entry into agriculture, automobiles and professional services. He stressed that China's economic size and market potential mean that no country can ignore it, and the UK cannot be exceptional. This statement is in contrast to the so-called "decoupling" or "risk removal" that some Western countries have advocated. Kyle bluntly stated that China has brought opportunities and challenges, but this just shows that the two sides need to strengthen contact.
This pragmatic attitude also has certain consensus in the UK. The British business community has called for the resumption of high-level dialogue with China many times, especially after the UK's political situation is unstable and its policy toward China has been repeated in the past few years. Many companies look forward to restarting such a mechanism as the Sino-British Joint Economic and Trade Commission as soon as possible. During this visit, more than 100 British corporate delegations came to Xiamen at the same time to participate in the China International Investment and Trade Fair, which is also the largest business delegation to China in the history of the UK. This participation itself shows that the UK not only attaches importance to cooperation with China verbally, but also implements it in practical actions.
However, under the atmosphere of cooperation, there are still some harsh sounds. During the talks, Kyle not only talked about economic issues such as trade barriers and market access, but also mentioned the so-called human rights and Hong Kong issues. In addition, he indirectly expressed concerns about China's rare earth export control and China-Russia cooperation in public.
What triggered a head-on confrontation between the two sides was the issue of the construction of diplomatic buildings. Before leaving, Kyle said in an interview that if China wants to develop diplomatic relations that are compatible with the UK, it needs corresponding diplomatic facilities, rather than the conditions decades ago. This sentence seems plain, but the actual meaning is very clear, that is, the UK hopes to build a new embassy in Beijing. The British Embassy in China is currently located in Sanlitun and has been in use for decades. The buildings are old, the space is limited, and the facilities do not meet modern diplomatic needs.
In other words, Kyle put forward two requirements: one is to hope that China will give more openness in market access and fair competition, and the other is to hope that the UK can build a new embassy in China to improve its own diplomatic facilities. China's response to this is very direct. Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian clearly pointed out that the construction of diplomatic buildings is the international obligation of the host country, and China and the UK have the need to build new buildings, and both sides should support each other. In other words, if the UK wants to build a new embassy in Beijing, it must take a reciprocal attitude and promote China's new building plan in London.
As early as 2018, China spent money to buy the former Royal Mint plot and planned to rebuild it into a new embassy in the UK. If this project is completed, it will become China's largest diplomatic institution in Europe. However, in the past few years, due to the influence of the British Conservative government and external forces such as the United States, this plan has been shelved and approval has been repeatedly delayed. After the Labor government came to power this year, British Foreign Secretary Rammy and Home Secretary Cooper both publicly expressed support for China's establishment of a new building in London, and admitted that this is a need for the normal development of diplomacy between the two countries.
But in actual operation, the UK housing and community departments still postponed approval, postponing the final decision until October 21. This "verbal support and delayed action" practice has made China extremely dissatisfied. The Chinese Embassy in the UK has publicly expressed serious concerns, emphasizing that the project complies with international practices and local regulations, and hopes that the UK will approve it as soon as possible.
Therefore, China's anti-general army is reflected here. It is no problem for the UK to build a new building in Beijing, but it cannot make unilateral requests. If London has been slow to approve China's application, then Beijing will naturally not give the green light to the UK easily, which is the principle of equality. To move forward, both sides must show sincerity, rather than one party making demands or the other party making compromises. This attitude is also in line with China's consistent diplomatic logic. Whether it is trade negotiations or political dialogue, China has always emphasized equality and mutual benefit. If the UK really wants to improve relations, it must show tangible actions.
