On Monday, November 18, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer met with Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping at the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. During the meeting, Starmer criticized China on human rights issues, specifically mentioning the detention of Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai and the UK parliamentarians sanctioned by the Chinese government.
This bilateral meeting between the two leaders is the first time British and Chinese leaders have met since 2018.
Starmer expressed his desire to promote a “mutually respectful” relationship between the UK and China. He told Xi Jinping that the UK will act in a stable and consistent manner, making decisions independently based on its own interests and values, without being influenced or controlled by other countries, and firmly upholding the rule of law.
During the meeting, Starmer addressed the Chinese government’s sanctions on UK parliamentarians, the disagreements between the two countries on Taiwan and Hong Kong issues, and the UK’s broad concerns about human rights issues in China. He also expressed “concern” to Xi Jinping about reports on Jimmy Lai’s deteriorating health condition in prison.
It is worth noting that this meeting was tightly controlled by the Chinese side. When Starmer mentioned these human rights issues, Chinese officials present immediately stood up and requested that British journalists leave the venue. According to Bloomberg TV footage, the journalists were interrupted by Chinese officials and escorted out of the room while Starmer was speaking.
On Tuesday, November 19, the Hong Kong court is set to sentence the “47 people case,” the largest so-called “national security” trial in Hong Kong. The US and the UK have called for the immediate release of the defendants and condemned the trial as politically motivated.
In July 2020, 47 democracy activists, community leaders, and others in Hong Kong participated in an informal primary election to select democratic candidates for the Legislative Council elections. They were accused by the Chinese authorities of violating the national security law.
Of the 47 defendants, 45 were found guilty, with most of them detained by the authorities for over three and a half years. Under China’s national security law for Hong Kong, they face a minimum of three years in prison up to life imprisonment.
Jimmy Lai, the founder of Hong Kong’s most popular newspaper, Apple Daily, and Next Digital, is charged with three national security offenses, including “collusion with foreign forces,” and will appear for a defense hearing on Wednesday, November 20. Lai has been detained for 1418 days.
Starmer and UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy have previously stated that the release of Jimmy Lai is a priority for the British government.
In 2021, seven UK Members of Parliament, including Conservative Party MP Tim Loughton, were sanctioned by the Chinese government for criticizing China’s human rights violations in Xinjiang.