Chinese President Xi Jinping Says China And United Kingdom Are ‘Increasingly Interdependent And Are Becoming A Community Of Shared Interests’
Chinese president Xi Jinping started his four-day state visit in the United Kingdom on Monday. The president of the People's Republic of China and his wife Peng Liyuan were greeted by Viscount Hood on behalf of Queen Elizabeth upon their arrival at Heathrow Airport, International Business Times reported on the same day.
Aside from that, Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond was also present to welcome the Chinese president, who commended the foreign secretary for greeting him at the airport.
"I understand that the British side has already made a lot of preparation for the visit," Xi says.
Speaking to Parliament on Tuesday, president Xi vows that the UK-China relations will have a good future. The Chinese president also says he was "deeply impressed by the vitality of China-UK relations," as noted by BBC News on the same day.
"Although China and the UK are located at opposite ends of the Eurasian continent, we have a long shared deep mutual affection," he says.
"It is fair to say that China and the UK are increasingly interdependent and are becoming a community of shared interests," the Chinese president adds.
The Communist leader is bullish that his state visit would take the relationship of UK and China to "new heights."
On the same day, the Chinese president and Peng Liyuan met Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall at the Clarence House.
On Thursday, Prime Minister David Cameron hosted Xi and his wife at his authorized country retreat which is located in Buckinghamshire. Cameron and Xi reportedly went to a pub located near Princes Risborough.
Meanwhile, World Uyghur Congress president Rebiya Kadeer says "it is very unfortunate that they are welcoming President Xi by the red carpet."
"They should know that in that red carpet is the blood of the Uighur people, Tibet and other Chinese dissidents," she says.
A picket, led by human rights advocates, was staged to express their disapproval on the state visit of the Chinese president.
"From my experience of policing in Britain, there has been a problem," says Shao Jiang. "For example, human rights protesters have been told that they cannot use megaphones, but they have allowed Chinese pro-government groups to use drums."
He goes on, "We also remember when the Olympic torch was making its way through the streets of the UK ahead of China hosting the games. Protesters were kettled by police, and yet supporters of China were allowed to walk freely."
