UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will meet the leaders of the US, China and India on Wednesday, in a day of high-stakes diplomacy at the G20 summit.
In a newly confirmed bilateral meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Mr Sunak will call for a “frank and constructive relationship” with Beijing while also raising human rights concerns, Downing Street said.
Critics have warned Mr Sunak that he could be regarded as weak for “drifting into appeasement with China”, after he softened his language to declare the country a “systemic challenge” rather than a “threat”.
In talks with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Mr Sunak is set to confirm a deal allowing 3,000 young professionals from India to work in the UK for two years.
He is trying to finalise a delayed trade deal with India, but the visa plan could set him on a collision course with Home Secretary Suella Braverman, who has opposed relaxing immigration controls as part of any trade talks.
Mr Sunak’s first in-person talks with Joe Biden look set to be dominated by continued support for Ukraine and energy, as the two sides are understood to be discussing a deal to supply the UK with gas amid shortages caused by Russia’s invasion.
First day of G20 in Indonesia - in pictures
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Indonesia's President Joko Widodo, right, passes the gavel to India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the G20 Summit in Bali. EPA -
Leaders and delegates at the handover ceremony. EPA -
US President Joe Biden, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Council President Charles Michel, Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, Netherlands' Prime Minister Mark Rutte and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken meet to discuss an apparent missile strike on Polish territory near the border with Ukraine at the G20 leaders' summit in Bali, Indonesia. AFP -
Mr Trudeau, Mr Biden and Mr Sunak at the meeting. AFP -
Mr Biden talks on the phone with Polish President Andrzej Duda as US national security adviser Jake Sullivan, centre, and Mr Blinken listen. AP -
President Sheikh Mohamed speaks with Siti Nurbaya, Indonesia's Minister of Environment and Forestry, after planting a mangrove tree as part of the G20 Summit at the Tahura Ngurah Rai mangrove conservation park. Photo: UAE Presidential Court -
Leaders take part in a mangrove planting event at the Tahura Ngurah Rai Mangrove Forest Park. AP -
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, centre right, Indonesian President Joko Widodo, right, Mr Biden and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen plant mangroves. AFP -
Front, left to right, Mr Scholz, Mr Biden, Mr Widodo, Ms von der Leyen, Ms Meloni. Seocnd row, left to right, Mr Michel, World Bank President David Malpass, Mr Sanchez, Mr Rutte, Mr Modi, Mr Macron and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. AFP -
Mr Macron and Mr Modi hold a working lunch. AFP -
Mr Sunak shakes hands with Mr Biden during a bilateral meeting. Getty -
Mr Modi and Mr Macron. AP -
Mr Scholz, left, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a bilateral meeting. EPA -
From left, Mr Biden, Mr Modi, Mr Widodo and Ms von der Leyen hold up their shovels during the mangrove planting. AP -
Mr Albanese, centre, meets with Mr Michel and Ms von der Leyen. EPA -
US President Joe Biden speaks about the situation in Poland. AFP -
Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida arrives for a tree planting event at the Taman Hutan Raya Ngurah Rai Mangrove Forest in Bali. AP -
Indonesian President Joko Widodo with a mangrove sapling at the forest park. Reuters -
US President Joe Biden speaks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during the G20 leaders' summit in Bali, Indonesia. AP -
Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau have a discussion on the sidelines of the summit. AFP -
Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation, talks to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a leaders' lunch. AP -
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan meets Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. AFP -
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. EPA -
President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen speaks to US President Joe Biden. Getty Images -
From left, South Korea's President Yoon Suk-yeol, Indonesia's President Joko Widodo, Mr Erdogan, Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Mexico's Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard. AP -
International Monetary Fund managing director Kristalina Georgieva. AP -
Mr Sunak and Crown Prince Mohammed during a bilateral meeting at the summit. AP -
President Sheikh Mohamed with Mr Widodo at the G20. Photo: UAE Presidential Court -
Sheikh Mohamed with French President Emmanuel Macron. Photo: UAE Presidential Court -
From left, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Mr Macron, Mr Biden and Mr Modi in Bali. AFP -
Mr Widodo addresses the summit in Nusa Dua. AP -
Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau arrives at the summit. EPA -
China's President Xi Jinping takes his seat with other world leaders. AFP -
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov attends the first working session. AP -
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the meeting. AP -
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak walks past the flags of assembled nations. AFP -
Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni arrives. AP -
Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed talks with Indonesia's Mr Widodo. AFP -
Mr Macron, left, shakes hands with Mr Xi before a meeting between the two leaders. AFP -
European Council President Charles Michel arrives at the summit. Reuters
Mr Sunak used the first session of the two-day Bali summit to condemn Moscow’s actions, which he blamed for worsening global economic challenges.
Before his meeting with Mr Xi, he said none of the issues being discussed at the G20 could be solved without engaging with the world’s second-largest economy.
“He’s going to be clear on the need for China and the UK to establish a frank and constructive relationship," Mr Sunak's official spokesman said in Bali.
“The challenges posed by China are systemic, they’re long term, and it’s a country with fundamentally different values to ours.
“China has an authoritarian leadership, which as we’ve been clear on has attempted to reshape the international order.
“We are clear-eyed, therefore, in how we approach our relationship with China.”
President Xi Jinping with world leaders at G20 - in pictures
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President Sheikh Mohamed talks to China's President Xi Jinping during the first session of the G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia. Photo: UAE Presidential Court -
The Chinese leader shakes hands with President Joko Widodo, right, of host nation Indonesia. AP -
Mr Xi talks with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, left, at the summit. AP -
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and Mr Xi on their way to lunch on the first day. EPA -
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, left, meets Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia. AP -
Emmanuel Macron shakes hands with Mr Xi at a meeting between the French and Chinese leaders. AFP -
The Chinese president greets his US counterpart Joe Biden. EPA
Mr Sunak will “obviously raise the human rights record” with Mr Xi, No 10 said, but declined to go into specifics such as whether that will include the Uighur Muslim minority in Xinjiang.
Asked about the contradiction in calling out rights concerns and asking Beijing for help in tackling international problems, the spokesman said: “I think the British public understand that relationships with countries are complex and nuanced.”
But news of the meeting drew anger from former Conservative Party leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith.
“I am worried that the present prime minister, when he meets Xi Jinping, will be perceived as weak because it now looks like we’re drifting into appeasement with China, which is a disaster as it was in the 1930s and so it will be now,” he said.
Mr Sunak has used his trip to Indonesia to emphasise the Indo-Pacific lean in the UK’s foreign policy.
With Mr Modi, he will give approval for the reciprocal scheme allowing 18 to 30-year-old degree-educated Indians to work in the UK from early next year.
The UK is still seeking a trade deal with New Delhi, after the government missed a Diwali cut-off point for striking an agreement set by former UK prime minister Boris Johnson.
Ms Braverman was accused of ruining negotiations with her controversial remarks about Indians overstaying visas.
Asked about concerns that the young professionals visa could lead to more people overstaying, the spokesman said: “Overstaying is illegal and in fact part of this agreement makes it easier to return Indian nationals who have no right to be here.”
Mr Sunak said he would discuss the trade deal with Mr Modi during their meeting, describing it as a “fantastic opportunity” for the UK.
“But I wouldn’t sacrifice quality for speed, and that goes for all trade deals,” he said.
Mr Sunak said trade was just one part of the relationship as he promised “progress” on “different aspects of policy”.
World cannot move forward if war does not end, says Indonesian president - video
It echoed remarks he made after scathing criticism of the Australian agreement from a former Cabinet minister.
Former environment secretary George Eustice said the deals negotiated with Australia and New Zealand included provisions that were not in the economic interests of the UK, with the government giving away “far too much” to secure the post-Brexit accords.
“In trade deals there’s always a degree of give or take and there are many positives from this deal, but it is right going forward that we don’t sacrifice quality for speed,” Mr Sunak told the BBC on Tuesday.
He has talks lined up on Wednesday with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Japan’s premier Fumio Kishida and Indonesian President Joko Widodo.
The G20 gathering of leaders of the world’s major economies will feature a working session on digital transformation before drawing to a close in the afternoon.
Mr Sunak will return to the UK on Thursday in time for his highly anticipated budget.
