Brazil For the first time in years: British Prime Minister meets China's Xi

For the first time in six years, a British Prime Minister has met with the Chinese head of state. At the meeting with Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Keir Starmer called for lasting and respectful relations and spoke out in favor of good economic relations between the countries, as reported by the British news agency PA.

However, he also mentioned the case of imprisoned Hong Kong publisher Jimmy Lai during the conversation. Democracy activist Lai has been in prison for several years and is once again on trial.

The founder of the pro-democracy Hong Kong newspaper "Apple Daily", which was forced to close in 2021, must answer for alleged violations of the controversial security law. Starmer said he was concerned about reports that his condition was deteriorating.

Efforts to maintain good relations in unstable times

The British Prime Minister is not the only one who wants to maintain good relations with China in the face of an unstable world situation. US President Joe Biden met with Xi last week on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Community (Apec) summit.

This was the first meeting between a British prime minister and Xi in Rio since Theresa May's visit to China in 2018.

China's head of state and party leader emphasized that both countries have important responsibilities, should remain strategic partners and jointly write the "next chapter" of healthy and stable relations, as Chinese state media reported after the meeting.

Xi also said that China and the UK had differences in history, culture, values and social systems. Both sides should look at each other's development rationally and objectively and strengthen strategic communication.

SDA