By Muvija M
LONDON (Reuters) -Britain named the son of a former governor of Hong Kong as its new ambassador to China on Friday, weeks before London is due to release an audit of its relations with Beijing.
Peter Wilson, a Mandarin speaker, is a senior diplomat who has held the posts of ambassador to Brazil and the Netherlands, director general for Europe at the foreign office and principal private secretary to the prime minister under Boris Johnson.
Reuters first reported his selection as future ambassador to China in February. His father David Wilson was governor of Hong Kong, then a British colony, from 1987-1992.
“For my country, China has always been as much an opportunity as a threat, and I think that remains true today,” Peter Wilson told a panel at the Asia Society in 2017.
Britain’s Labour government aims to boost diplomatic engagement with China after years of tensions under previous Conservative governments over human rights, Hong Kong and restrictions on investment.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has also been pursuing post-Brexit trade deals to boost a stagnant economy. He struck a tariff-lowering deal with U.S. President Donald Trump last week, cast by Beijing as a move that could squeeze Chinese products out of Britain.
Preparations are being made for Starmer to visit China this year, Reuters has reported, the first such visit by a British leader since 2018.
An audit which Starmer’s government says will be the first in-depth appraisal of Britain’s relationship with China is expected to be released in early June, according to sources.
(Reporting by Sam Tabahriti, writing by Muvija MEditing by Sachin Ravikumar and Peter Graff)
