UK Foreign Secretary to raise human rights issues with China

LONDON: United Kingdom Foreign Secretary James Cleverly will be in China on Wednesday for a bilat-eral visit during which he will raise Beijing’s human rights obligations, including in relation to communities in Xin-jiang and Tibet.

UK government said in a statement that Cleverly will hold bilateral meetings with China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Vice President Han Zheng and will discuss issues such as climate change.

This is the first visit of a UK Foreign Secretary to China in over over five years The statement said that the cli-mate change issue cannot be tackled without China – as the world’s largest investor in sustainable energy and the largest emitter of carbon, “the choices that China makes are critical to our collective ability to tackle this global problem”.

The Foreign Secretary will state that China’s global significance comes with a responsibility for international se-curity – helping to end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, diffusing tensions in the South China Sea and ceasing malign activity in cyberspace.

During his visit, the Foreign Secretary will raise Beijing’s human rights obligations, including in relation to com-munities in Xinjiang and Tibet. He will also challenge China on the erosion of autonomy, rights and freedoms in Hong Kong under the Beijing-imposed National Security Law, as well as other UK interests including the sanctions placed on UK MPs.

“It is important we manage our relationship with China across a range of issues. No significant global problem – from climate change to pandemic prevention, from economic instability to nuclear proliferation – can be solved without China,” Cleverly said.

“China’s size, history and global significance means they cannot be ignored, but that comes with a responsibility on the global stage. That responsibility means China fulfilling its international commitments and obligations,” he added. ANI

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