After quite some time, China UK relations are on the upswing. It seems that Britain and Beijing are finally ending their cold war, possibly primarily due to the fact that the UK government is not prepared to witness an independent Tibet. Indeed, this move to enhance China UK relations was even commented on in The People’s Daily (Communist Party’s official newspaper) which wrote “Sino-UK relations have taken a step forward.”
In a move that is likely to further enhance China UK relations, Britain’s Prime Minister David Cameron is due to hold a summit with China’s Premier, Li Keqiang. This will bring to an end over a year of no contact at top government level. Having no contact during this time has panicked officials in the British government who feel England could lose out to other European regions like France and Germany that both boast strong political-economic connections with Beijing already. Foreign Secretary William Hague told his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi that this year had witnessed “unprecedented Chinese investment into the UK as well as strong growth in bilateral trade.”
It would be good if China UK relations were to receive some injection of good faith. Things weren’t always so poor. Indeed, around 10 years ago, Britain was the fourth-largest trading partner China had. Clearly China UK relations can return at least somewhere close to that position.