Visit promising for stronger China-UK ties

Britain's Prince William arrives in Beijing, capital of China, for his first-ever visit to China, March 1, 2015. He will have a four-day tour in China. [Photo/Xinhua]

On Sunday, the United Kingdom's Duke of Cambridge, Prince William, was due to begin a visit to China. His trip to Beijing, Shanghai and southwest Yunnan province, is the first visit to the Chinese mainland by a member of the British royal family in nearly three decades.

Second in line to the British throne after his father, Charles, Prince of Wales, William gained immense popularity with his marriage to Catherine Middleton in 2011. The young royal couple has since become a well-received part of British diplomacy, receiving warm welcomes during their visits to Australia and New Zealand in April and the United States in December.

For the United Kingdom, visits to a foreign country by members of the royal family mean that the country is high on its diplomatic agenda. Invited by the then Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping, the Queen Elizabeth II, her husband Prince Philip and a royal entourage of 50 visited China in 1986. Likewise, supported and designed by the British government, Prince William's visit can be seen as a signal of the UK government's strong desire to push for a better relationship with China.

Since they established full diplomatic relations in the 1970s, both the People's Republic of China and the UK have made consistent efforts to maintain a sound and reciprocal relationship. Yet, speed bumps have emerged every now and then and ties became strained in 2012 after the British Prime Minister David Cameron met with the Dalai Lama despite the Chinese government's repeated solemn representation requesting him not to. London's unwanted political interference in Hong Kong affairs, such as constitutional reforms, has also had an adverse influence on ties.

It was not until Chinese Premier Li Keqiang's official visit to Britain in June that both countries started resuming leader-to-leader and trade exchanges. Also, Chinese President Xi Jinping will reportedly visit the UK soon after Prince William finishes his tour, which is expected to give another boost to better relations.