Lammy’s comments on the Jimmy Lai case show Britain’s torn China policy

Illustration: Liu Rui/GT

The Office of the Commissioner of the Chinese Foreign Ministry in Hong Kong issued a statement on Tuesday expressing its strong opposition to British Foreign Secretary David Lammy’s recent comments regarding Hong Kong and solemnly calling on the British side to “refrain from its hypocritical double standards and… to give up their political appearance.”

It all started with an X-post from the British politician on Tuesday in which he confirmed that he had met last week with Sebastien Lai, the son of Hong Kong secessionist Jimmy Lai Chee-ying. “Your father’s case is a priority for the British government. We will continue to press for his immediate release and consular access,” he wrote.

The United Kingdom has paid considerable attention to the Jimmy Lai case, complaining about so-called human rights abuses in the Hong Kong region and using it as an important vehicle to extend its wide-ranging jurisdiction over Hong Kong affairs. Given that Lai’s trial resumes on November 20, it is difficult not to see Lammy’s statement as an attempt to interfere with the independence of Hong Kong’s judiciary and the spirit of the rule of law. His words sound somewhat confusing and worrying coming from a senior official in a government that wants to improve relations with China.

The current British government is aiming for a 3c strategy towards China, namely “challenge, compete, cooperate”. Li Guanjie, a research fellow at the Shanghai Academy of Global Governance and Area Studies at Shanghai International Studies University, told the Global Times that the labor administration maintains a confrontational stance against China on sensitive issues, including those related to Hong Kong. This is generally consistent with Washington’s stance toward China.
However, Li also warns that this part of Sino-British relations, which the Labor Party might call “challenges”, has become more important than the cooperation part. This will have a certain impact on cooperation between the two sides and directly affect the speed of development of bilateral relations, he added.

When it comes to relations with China, Britain is now torn between different approaches. On the one hand, China is not only a key trading partner of the UK, but also a key player in the global supply chain. The British government obviously benefits immensely from economic cooperation with the Asian country.

On the other hand, the country is reluctant to abandon its ideology-oriented approach on some China-related issues. Instead, it stubbornly exploits its own biases to judge and even attempt to interfere in China’s internal affairs.

China’s stance on such interventions has been very clear: they are completely unacceptable and will never be successful. If Britain continues to do this, given the sensitivity of current China-UK relations, it is likely to further exacerbate the confrontation between the two countries’ positions on these issues and undermine the atmosphere of bilateral cooperation.

Lammy has just completed a visit to China last month, the highest-profile trip to China since the Labor government came to power in July. In his talks with Wang Yi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and Foreign Minister, the British official expressed the British government’s commitment to “strengthen dialogue and cooperation with China and resolve differences in a coherent, reciprocal framework to cope effectively”. respectful interaction that serves the long-term interests of both sides.”

This is the right direction for China-UK relations, and this momentum should be maintained for the healthy development of bilateral relations in the long term. Yet London’s actions must keep pace with its words.

China’s return to Western “values” without any respect for its sovereignty and interests will lead China-UK relations to nothing.

Hopefully, the Labor Party will have the wisdom and courage to take a truly rational approach to China and prevent the values ​​approach and the “challenge” part from overshadowing the prospects for further developing pragmatic cooperation in bilateral relations.