U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May arrived in China seeking to balance her desire to build a powerful post-Brexit trade relationship with a clutch of political concerns.
At the start of a three-day trade mission, May said she would raise the sensitive topics of China's human rights record and Hong Kong democracy in talks with President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang. Her reluctance to formally endorse Xi's global Belt and Road trade-and-infrastructure initiative also risks impeding her pursuit of more robust ties.
"China is a country that we want to do a trade deal with," May told reporters on board her flight from London to Wuhan, which landed on Wednesday. The nature of the relationship between the two countries means she can still discuss "those issues" of concern, she said. "I will be raising both human rights and the issue of Hong Kong."