Aides to Chinese President Xi Jinping blocked filming of their leader after U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer raised human rights concerns with him, footage shows.
Monday’s dialogue at the G-20 Leaders’ Summit in Rio de Janeiro, marked the first face-to-face meeting between a U.K. prime minister and Xi in more than six years. Relations between the two countries have frayed over a number of issues, including the crackdown on democracy and deterioration of political freedoms in the former U.K. colony of Hong Kong.
Starmer and his cabinet have signaled a less hawkish approach toward China than their Conservative Party predecessors and stressed a need for cooperation on issues of shared concern such as climate change. Starmer told Xi he would also “engage honestly and frankly on those areas where we have different perspectives, according to a readout from the Prime Minister’s Office.
“I’m very pleased that my Foreign Secretary and (Chinese) Foreign Minister Wang met recently to discuss respective concerns including on human …