Ministers are pushing ahead with their reset of relations with China, including several planned high-level visits before the end of the year, despite the furore triggered by the collapse of a high-profile espionage trial.
Plans have been drawn up for Jonathan Powell, the national security adviser, to travel to Beijing in November for talks before an anticipated trip by Keir Starmer next year.
Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, and Patrick Vallance, the science minister, are also expected to travel to China on government business before the end of the year.
The government could yet decide to pull or postpone Powell’s November trip after he was dragged into the controversy surrounding the abandonment of charges against two men accused of spying for Beijing.
A government spokesperson said: “We have long been clear that we are bringing a consistent, long-term and strategic approach to managing our relations with China, rooted in UK interests. That includes constructive and robust engagement at a variety of levels.”
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) unexpectedly pulled the charges against Christopher Cash, a former parliamentary researcher, and Christopher Berry, a teacher, last month. The CPS argued that the government had not provided sufficient evidence that China represented a “threat to the national security of the UK”.
Starmer published the three witness statements submitted by a deputy national security adviser, Matthew Collins, to prosecutors on Wednesday after accusations he had interfered with the trial to protect the UK’s trading relationship with China.
In a letter to the Conservative party leader, Kemi Badenoch, on Thursday, the prime minister rejected Tory claims that Powell had a role in shaping the evidence that ultimately led the case to collapse.
He wrote that while Powell attended a meeting about the case with senior Whitehall officials in September, “these discussions were based on the working assumption that the case would proceed – which was the desired outcome of the government – and focused on how to handle the implications”. The meeting, on 1 September, took place nearly a month after Collins submitted his final witness statement to the CPS on 4 August.
Powell last travelled to Beijing in mid-July where he met China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi. The Chinese government said they had discussed the UK government’s desire for “a consistent, lasting and mutually respectful relationship”.
Phillipson is planning to travel to China later this year for talks on education, according to two people briefed on the discussions. Vallance’s trip next month, which was first reported by PoliticsHome, is to hold a formal, in-person forum on science, innovation and technology for the first time since 2018. Virtual talks were held in 2021.
The visits are the latest examples of high-level engagement between the UK and China which has stepped up since Labour entered power. Rishi Sunak’s administration sought to pursue a similar approach but was hamstrung by political instability and opposition from hawkish Tory backbenchers.
Plans are being drawn up for Starmer to make a bilateral trip to China next year, possibly in mid-February. Donald Trump has also said he intends to make a trip to China early next year, which could affect the timing of Starmer’s visit if it goes ahead.
The last UK prime minister to visit China was Theresa May in 2018, when ministers were still talking about a “golden era” in relations with the country.
Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, travelled to China with a business delegation in January and unveiled £600m in investment. Ed Miliband, the energy secretary, and Peter Kyle, the trade secretary, have also visited China for talks over the past year. Senior Chinese government figures made several visits to the UK in the same period.
This week, Oliver Robbins, the permanent secretary of the Foreign Office, became the latest senior government figure to travel to Beijing. Part of his brief has been to discuss much-needed refurbishment to Britain’s embassy in Beijing, which China is blocking while the fate of its own new embassy is being decided.
Ministers have come under pressure over the implications of their rapprochement for national security.
The Guardian revealed earlier this month that China threatened to retaliate against plans to target parts of its security apparatus under foreign influence rules. Chinese officials told the Foreign Office that the move would have negative consequences for relations.
