Yvette Cooper has accused opposition critics of “cancel culture” foreign policy as she defended the Labour Government’s warming relations with China during a two-day visit to Beijing. The Foreign Secretary said the Tories had presided over a “withdrawal of engagement” despite Beijing’s increasing global prominence, arguing that dealing with the world’s second-largest economy was key to UK security.
“I think there was a withdrawal of engagement from the UK Government and we’ve seen it maintained in the Conservative Party’s position now,” Ms Cooper said. She also criticised the Liberal Democrats, Greens, and Reform UK for opposing engagement with major powers, describing it as “a kind of foreign policy cancel culture which is really damaging to the UK”.
The Foreign Secretary rejected Sir Tony Blair’s recent criticism of the UK’s treatment of the US, saying the former Labour leader sometimes appeared intent on “trigger(ing) everybody into responding” with his interventions. She said that while America was the UK’s closest security partner, “we also have a sovereign foreign policy and it’s our job to make decisions about what’s in the UK national interest”.
On her first visit to China, Ms Cooper faced questions about whether she raised concerns over detained British citizen Jimmy Lai and Russia’s war in Ukraine. She told reporters “of course” she had raised the case, but did not detail progress on Mr Lai’s release after meeting Chinese vice-president Han Zheng and foreign minister Wang Yi. She also discussed Russia’s “appalling escalation towards civilians” with Mr Wang, but acknowledged that China’s role in the Ukraine war was “an issue where the UK and China have had disagreements”.
