Starmer to raise human rights with Xi amid pressure over Jimmy Lai

Keir Starmer has said he will "raise the issues that need to be raised" on human rights with China’s president, Xi Jinping, as he arrived in Beijing on the first visit by a UK leader in eight years. The prime minister has come under pressure from rights groups to try to secure the release of Jimmy Lai, the jailed former media tycoon and a British citizen.

Lai faces spending the rest of his life in prison after he was found guilty by a Hong Kong court of national security offences in a case the UK sees as politically motivated. Starmer told reporters on the flight to China: "In the past on all the trips I’ve done, I’ve always raised issues that need to be raised.

But part of the reason for engaging with China is so that issues where we disagree can be discussed." The Conservative former security minister Tom Tugendhat said Starmer should have secured Lai’s release before visiting China. Tugendhat said: "The problem is, the prime minister has sat down at the card table and shown the Chinese emperor all of his cards." He added: "He’s effectively said: ‘I’m not going to play hardball with you,’ and the reason I know that’s what’s happened is because he’s turned up without securing the release." Tugendhat has been placed under sanctions by the Chinese regime.

Yvette Cooper, the foreign secretary, has called for Lai’s immediate release and summoned the Chinese ambassador after his conviction.

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