UK Foreign Secretary to visit China and India for talks on West Asia, and global security challenges

UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper will travel to China on Monday, meeting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Vice-President Han Zheng on Tuesday (June 2). She will then visit Shenzhen for discussions on science and technology the following day. Her visit follows Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s January trip to China, where he met President Xi Jinping and agreed to strengthen cooperation in trade, investment, and technology, marking the first British PM visit to China in eight years. Cooper’s discussions in China will focus on key global challenges, including developments in West Asia, tensions in the Strait of Hormuz, the Russia-Ukraine war, and global health concerns such as the recent Ebola outbreak. The trip comes amid heightened geopolitical tensions and soaring oil prices, which have worsened since the US-Israeli conflict in Iran. From China, Cooper will travel to India on Thursday, where she will meet External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar. She will also engage with entrepreneurs, academics, and government partners working under the UK-India Vision 2035 initiative. The UK and India signed a Free Trade Agreement last year, though its implementation has faced delays due to new UK restrictions on steel imports. The British government stated that Cooper’s visits to China and India will center on addressing major global challenges. These include economic sluggishness in the UK, regional conflicts, and broader security concerns. The engagements aim to reinforce bilateral relations while navigating current geopolitical and economic pressures.