China criticized the United Kingdom’s move to expand its British National (Overseas) visa pathway for Hong Kong residents following the 20‑year sentence of Jimmy Lai, the former newspaper publisher and pro‑democracy figure.
Allen Carlson, associate professor of government at Cornell University and an expert on Chinese foreign policy, says the episode illustrates how governments courting Beijing, amid frustration with Washington’s volatility, can find engagement with China difficult to manage.
Carlson says: “Hong Kong’s sentencing of Jimmy Lai to 20 years should not have come as a surprise to anyone. It is in lockstep with the ongoing silencing of dissent there which has taken hold since the 2019 pro-democracy protests. But it also underscores the difficulties inherent in other countries getting along with Xi Jinping’s China.
“Only days ago, British Prime Minister Starmer visited Beijing in hopes of strengthening economic ties between the U.K. and China. On the surface he seemed to have been somewhat successful. But the Lai sentencing, the BNO announcement, and voracious criticism from China, arguably, undid whatever was gained from Starmer’s China trip.
“These days, while many countries seem to be seeking out China as a potential alternative partner to the U.S., as Washington’s approach to the world strikes many as volatile and unreliable, drawing closer to Beijing is not without its own perils.”
