Sunak to hold surprise meeting with Chinese president at G20

Rishi Sunak is due to hold a surprise meeting with Xi Jinping at the G20 summit of world leaders in Indonesia on Wednesday to try to build a new, frank and constructive UK-China relationship. Sunak, the first British prime minister to meet the Chinese president in person for five years, is reconsidering the UK’s approach to China. Downing Street said Sunak would be open-minded about the UK’s relationship with China but that during his time as UK chancellor he had primarily viewed foreign policy through an economic lens. Sunak and Xi are due to meet with then-prime minister Theresa May on Wednesday afternoon for their first face-to-face bilateral meeting since February 2018. The meeting was requested by Downing Street. “It is important that we engage with people to try and overcome some of these shared challenges,” Sunak said. US President Joe Biden met with Xi on Monday and western leaders agreed to “maintain engagement” as they try to pull China back from its increasingly close partnership with Russia.