David Lammy is set to meet his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, in London later today as Labour ramps up its China charm offensive. The talks will revive the UK-China Strategic Dialogue—a forum last held in 2018. No press conference is scheduled, and the Foreign Office is keeping schtum on the details…
Guido thought it worth reminding co-conspirators exactly who Lammy will be shaking hands with. Wang Yi has outright denied China’s genocide against the Uyghurs, dismissing accusations as “ridiculously absurd” and “a complete lie.” Something human rights lawyers—Lammy included—would disagree with. Whether he plans to raise the subject is anyone’s guess…
Also on the agenda: security issues and the war in Ukraine—a particularly touchy subject after Trump’s call with Putin last night, and Pete Hegseth claiming Ukraine would neither join NATO nor restore its 2014 borders. Labour, meanwhile, insists that Ukraine and European security must remain at the heart of negotiations, with John Healey stating just yesterday that “Russia remains a threat well beyond Ukraine.” Should make for some interesting small talk between Lammy and Wang, given that back in September, Wang was singing Putin’s praises to his face:
“Under your leadership, the strong momentum in China-Russia relations has been maintained, making both countries key contributors to strengthening multilateralism on the global stage… we are continuously achieving new results in all areas of cooperation, for the benefit of our nations.”
Shaping up to be a pretty good week for Moscow…
Sarah Pochin at Reform Scotland’s manifesto launch event: “I really wanted to come on in a Reform tartan burka, but apparently I wasn’t allowed… One day let’s do one of these events not live-streamed. We’ll do all the naughty stuff…”