Time to build new type of relationship with Great Britain

But there is no room for bargaining on China's sovereignty in such cooperation - for example importing advanced technology from the UK. China objects to any foreign leader meeting with the Dalai Lama and any country, or individual, interfering in its internal affairs by using Tibet-related issues.

China and the UK have differences on issues such as human rights, but that should not be an excuse for the UK to intervene in China's internal affairs. The development of bilateral ties must be based on mutual respect. Some British media outlets, however, still see China with prejudice. For example, on June 2, 2013, The Sunday Times published an article, "Blair is dupe in Chinese spy plot", criticizing former prime minister Tony Blair for making a pitch for China at a conference on philanthropy, hosted by China Association for International Friendly Contact in Beijing in November 2012. The Sunday Times alleged that the CAIFC was a front organization for the People's Liberation Army that conducts psychological warfare and covert operations against foreign political and military leaders.

Many other articles have made such irresponsible remarks. For example, in an article, "Who's afraid of Huawei?", The Economist said Ren Zhengfei, Huawei's founder, is an engineer in the PLA, and Westerners fret that the networks the company is building are used by Chinese spooks to eavesdrop during peacetime and could be shut down suddenly during wartime. It added that they see Huawei as a potent weapon in China's burgeoning cyber arsenal.

On Dec 2, 2011, speaking on "China-Europe Partnership in Progress" at the Lanting Forum, former vice-foreign minister Fu Ying said: "China needs to approach criticisms from Europe in two ways. We will accept reasonable ones for our own improvement, and ... make our arguments heard where there are misunderstandings and bias."

Therefore, to deepen the understanding between China and the UK, China needs to adopt a dual approach to criticisms from Britain: accept reasonable criticism and take remedial measures, and make its arguments heard to clear misunderstandings and bias. In this context, the establishment of the China-UK high-level cultural exchange mechanism is expected to play an important role.

President Xi Jinping has summarized the new type of China-US relationship as "no conflict and no confrontation", "mutual respect" and "cooperation toward win-win results." Since the UK remains a big power China should try to develop a new type relationship with it, too, as defined by President Xi.

The author is deputy director of the Institute of European Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.