The Labour Party won a landslide victory in early July’s general election, ending 14 years of Conservative rule and giving the UK a new Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer. Like many groups now looking to the future, China watchers will be wondering what the new government will bring to the field of UK-China relations.
“While it is still early days, there is a sense we may be entering a new chapter for UK-China relations. At the top of our list is a desire to see steps taken to address the absence of high-level government-to-government engagement, including the resumption of key dialogues,” Tom Simpson, Managing Director, China Operations & China Chief Representative, told FOCUS.
On July 7, two days after the election results were announced, Chinese Premier Li Qiang sent a message to Prime Minister Starmer to congratulate him on his win.
According to a readout published by Xinhua news, Li told Starmer that China “stands ready to work with the new British government”, and added that “strengthening coordination and cooperation between the two nations not only serves the interests of the two countries, but also is conducive to the unity of the international community in addressing global challenges.”
The ascent of Labour and the Liberal Democrats has resulted in a brand-new generation of MPs in Parliament, including the UK’s first Chinese-born MP, Yuan Yang, a former FT journalist, who is the MP for Earley and Woodley in Berkshire.
A new government will also entail a new foreign policy approach, including towards China. In an article for Foreign Affairs published prior to the election, Foreign Secretary David Lammy (then Shadow Foreign Secretary) set out his vision of “progressive realism” for foreign policy and vowed to “adopt a more consistent strategy” to China.
According to a pre-election summary of Labour’s foreign policy plans published by Reuters, the party aims to:
- Bring “a long-term and strategic approach” to managing Britain’s relations with China.
- Carry out an audit to improve Britain’s ability to understand and respond to the challenges and opportunities posed by China.
- Stand with and support members of the Hong Kong community who have relocated to the UK.
“We welcome the new government’s plan to conduct an audit of the UK-China relationship and have offered to support in any way possible,” said Simpson.
The government also aims to lead discussions to deepen trade and cooperation through organisations like the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), which China has also applied to join.
Labour will be under pressure to deliver on the economy while in government, and stable relations with China may well be seen as a way to achieve that. Moreover, PM Starmer has previously noted that it would be impossible for the UK to “distance ourselves” completely from China on global issues like climate change.
As a result, Luke de Pulford, Director of Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, wrote that he expects to see greater UK-China engagement and perhaps softened criticism of China – despite Labour’s former position on issues such as China’s treatment of minorities.
“The environment remains challenging, and the new government inherits a relationship in need of work and not just on UK-China trade but also issues of global importance. Regardless, we remain optimistic about the change, and the reaction in China suggests there is a shared hope for relations improving in the coming years,” Simpson concludes.
Event: UK Election 2024, A New Chapter in UK-China Relations?
Don’t miss CBBC’s briefing on 25 July 2024 on the UK election outcome, the UK’s newly formed Labour Government and the potential implications for UK-China relations. The event will be held offline at CBBC’s Beijing office and online via Zoom.
The event will feature remarks from Richard Burn, Senior Advisor, APCO, and Chris Torrens, Managing Director, Greater China, APCO, followed by a panel discussion with Richard Burn, Chris Torrens, Kong Yuan, Researcher, Institute of European Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and Zhang Biao, Associate Professor in International Politics and Head of the Department, China University of Political Science and Law, moderated by Tom Simpson, Managing Director, China, CBBC.
