Illustration: Chen Xia/GT

The UK's Foreign Secretary David Lammy, who just wrapped up his China visit last month, is set to be quizzed over the UK's China strategy by MPs when he speaks to the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee on Wednesday, according to British media reports, while the Labour government is being slammed for "going soft on China."

China-UK relations have experienced twists and turns in the past few years, mainly because of the hostile attitude toward China adopted by the previous governments. The Boris Johnson government labeled China "a great challenge," the Liz Truss government branded China "the largest threat," and Rishi Sunak viewed China as a "systematic challenge." These changing perceptions of China underlined the fact that the Conservative governments had abandoned rational and pragmatic policy orientation regarding China. China-UK relations were thus jeopardized in the fields such as diplomacy, economy and people-to-people exchanges.

At the same time, the UK government, with its tough approach toward China, has failed to revive the UK's past glorious status, but set the country into various dilemmas, manifested by Brexit, the pandemic and the Ukraine crisis. 

Since the new Labour government, formed in July under the leadership of Keir Starmer, came into office, it has intended to reassess and potentially recalibrate its relations with Beijing. Lammy's visit, only the second time in six years, was seen as the first sign of a thaw in China-UK relations. Starmer also said that he wanted a strong and durable relationship with China.

Li Guanjie, a research fellow with the Shanghai Academy of Global Governance and Area Studies under the Shanghai International Studies University, told the Global Times that the Labour government's China stance does not fundamentally differ from that of the previous Conservative governments, but only adds an engagement perspective, which, however, should not be called "being soft."

Noises regarding China-UK relations in the UK's political realm still exist. Some British MPs reportedly raised concerns over the recent sentencing of the 45 Hong Kong "separatists" and the so-called Chinese espionage. Some even urged the UK government to introduce legislation to prevent goods made with "forced labor" in China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, like what the US did.

Indeed, the UK's position on matters relating to China's core interests is a barometer with which we measure the UK's China policy. These matters often affect future China-UK relations, especially when the relations could be easily undermined by the subjective and sensationalized understanding of China. In October when pressed by Sunak, Starmer said the Chinese mainland's drills around the island of Taiwan were "not conducive to peace." He also claimed that releasing infamous Hong Kong secessionist Jimmy Lai is a "priority" for his government. Just a few days ago, a Financial Times article claimed that "Jimmy Lai case tests red lines of UK-China relations."

Currently, the domestic opinion of China in the UK is still diverse and contradictory. Judging from the pressure faced by the Starmer government, it's clear that prejudice and unwarranted concerns against China in the UK still have an impact. How to withstand the pressures, achieve an accurate assessment of China-UK relations, get rid of the serious negative effects of pan-politicization in recent years, truly recognize the common interests and cooperation needs between China and the UK, and create a favorable atmosphere for cooperation should be the goal pursued by the UK in adjusting its China policy.

If the overall China policy of the Starmer government is hijacked by anti-China voices and the government is forced to take a tough and hostile approach toward China, that would be the tragedy of UK politics and the UK's China policy.

China and the UK do not see eye to eye on everything. But it does not mean they cannot engage and cooperate with each other in a pragmatic way. It tests the wisdom of the UK to have a sophisticated approach to be effective in dealing with China.