Starmer vows to raise issues ‘that need to be raised’ with Xi amid push to free Jimmy Lai | Keir Starmer
Keir Starmer said he will “raise issues that need to be updated” on human rights with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, who came to Beijing for the first visit of a British leader to the country in eight years.
The prime minister has come under pressure from human rights groups to try to secure the release of Jimmy Lai, a jailed former media mogul and one of Hong Kong’s most prominent pro-democracy voices.
The British national faced spending the rest of his life in prison after being found guilty by a Hong Kong court of national security offenses that the UK deemed politically motivated.
Starmer told reporters on a flight to China: “In all my travels in the past, I have always raised issues that need to be raised. But part of the reason we engage with China is so that issues on which we disagree can be discussed.”
Foreign Affairs Minister Yvette Cooper called for Lai’s immediate release and summoned the Chinese ambassador following his conviction.
In December, Lai’s children expressed concern about their father’s health, describing his dramatic weight loss, rotting teeth and falling out of his nails while in solitary confinement.
The prime minister may also raise the fate of Uighurs, the Muslim minority in China who are persecuted and forced into forced labor programs.
In opposition, the Labor Party has pushed for official recognition of China’s treatment of the Uyghurs as genocide, and some senior figures in the party have supported the move.
Downing Street said Starmer wanted to improve economic relations with China on the visit but would maintain “guardrails” on national security and would not trade one for the other. They said it would raise areas of disagreement, including human rights violations.
Yasmine Ahmed, UK Director of Human Rights Watch, told the Guardian: “It is imperative that Starmer does not abandon the pursuit of profit during his visit to Beijing.
“At the very least, he needs to publicly pressure Xi for the release of Jimmy Lai and speak out against the dramatic erasure of freedoms in Hong Kong.”
He added: “If Starmer leaves human rights concerns at the door, not only will this weaken Britain’s hand and undermine its position, it could also leave the UK vulnerable to economic pressures in the future.
“Having guardrails in place is not only not the right thing to do, it is also contrary to Britain’s long-term economic and security interests.
“Starmer must ensure that any interaction with China underpins British values, with belief in universal human rights and the rule of law at the heart of these.”
Speaking to reporters, the prime minister downplayed suggestions that the Downing Street operation could be at risk from Chinese espionage and hacking, amid wider concerns in the UK about Beijing’s spying activities.
“No, there is no evidence of that. We have solid plans and security measures in place, as you would expect,” he said.
