BEIJING, China (AFP) — British Foreign Secretary David Lammy said Friday he hoped Beijing and London could discuss their differences “constructively”, as his Chinese counterpart said relations were at “a new starting point”.

London has said Lammy will use his visit — the first by a British cabinet minister to China since Prime Minister Keir Starmer took office — to “challenge” Beijing on sensitive issues like Russia’s war in Ukraine but also to mend frayed ties.

On Friday afternoon, Lammy met with Wang at Beijing’s Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, telling the top diplomat the UK would “always put its national security and national interests first”.

He acknowledged “areas in which we have different perspectives”, but he said he hoped the two countries could “find space to discuss such areas constructively”.

“Neither of us has an interest in escalation or greater instability,” Lammy told Wang.

Wang said relations between the two countries “now stand at a new starting point”.

“We hope to…. respect each other’s concerns, deepen strategic communication, build a long-term and stable policy framework… and promote China-UK relations entering into a new stage of stable development,” he said.

The two sides “should become partners in responding to global challenges”, Wang added.

– Fine line –
Lammy earlier met with Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang and other top Communist Party officials.

He is seeking to tread a fine line between shoring up ties with a major trade partner while pushing Beijing on issues like human rights, the Ukraine war and Chinese policies in Hong Kong.

He will also meet with British business leaders in the eastern megacity of Shanghai during his two-day trip.

In an earlier statement, Lammy’s office said that the foreign secretary would “urge China to stop its political and economic support of the Russian war effort”.

China has boosted ties with Russia since the invasion of Ukraine but maintains it is a neutral party and denies selling arms to Moscow.

Britain and China once made much of their burgeoning ties, with then Prime Minister David Cameron hailing a “Golden Age” in relations in 2015.

Much has changed since then, with Britain’s criticism of China on human rights issues prompting sharp rebukes from Beijing.

The two sides have also sparred over espionage allegations, including cyberattacks and political interference.

Advocacy group Human Rights Watch on Friday urged Lammy to put respect for rights at the “very centre” of ties.

“David Lammy came to office promising to restore Britain’s commitment to international law,” associate China director Maya Wang said.

“A visit to China, a country that regularly seeks to subvert, manipulate or ignore these legal frameworks, will certainly test that ambition.”

– Hong Kong hangover –
Perhaps the biggest sticking point between the two countries has been Hong Kong, the former British colony that London handed back to China in 1997.

Beijing imposed a sweeping national security law on the financial hub in 2020, snuffing out months of pro-democracy protests there.

London says the legislation has eroded special freedoms guaranteed under Hong Kong’s mini-constitution, while China maintains that it restored stability in the city.

Beijing has told the UK and other countries to stop interfering in an issue it regards as a purely domestic affair.