James Cleverly has defended his meetings with senior Chinese government members, saying it would be a mistake to try to isolate China, during the first visit to Beijing in five years by a UK foreign secretary.
Cleverly said he believed China genuinely cared about UK views on human rights, following his meetings on Wednesday with China’s vice-president, Han Zheng, and foreign minister, Wang Yi. However, there was no indication of a change in Chinese policy such as the lifting of its sanctions on British parliamentarians, the test for the trip set by the shadow foreign secretary, David Lammy.
