Chinese President Xi Jinping visits Britain
Chinese President Xi Jinping continues his Western official visit by going to Britain on Tuesday. Jinping and his wife, Peng Liyuan are expected to be in there for four days as the country is planning to strengthen its relationship and increase their mutual trade benefit.
According to Reuters, a total of $46 billion worth of deals is expected to be signed by the president during his visit. Among the deals are in the infrastructure field, nuclear power and also the British government northern England transformation plans.
However, the highlight of the deal is the $25 billion investment plan by two state-owned Chinese utility companies for the new nuclear power plant that is currently under construction at Hinkley Point. According to the Daily Mail, investments made by the Chinese government will ensure that Britain's economy will continue to grow well as around 3,900 new jobs are expected to be created through the investment.
Besides investment, BBC reported that some serious matter will be discussed among Jinping and British Prime Minister David Cameron. Among them is the disruption in the UK steel industry because lots of UK companies chose to import cheaper steel from China compared to locally produced steel.
The UK steel industry has been hit hard especially during the previous commodities plunge. According to the latest plan by Tata Steel, the company is planning to lay off around 1,200 workers in its Scunthorpe and Lanarkshire plants as the company is struggling to cut its operational cost.
Xi Jinping's visit to Britain is also inviting some protestors to voiced out their concern regarding human rights. The protestors are raising the human right issue as China has been violating the Tibetans' religious freedom. Most of the protestors are from the Amnesty International, Falun Gong and the Free Tibet Movement.
However, these protestors are outnumbered by the pro-China supporters that are waving the Chinese flag and bringing banners showing support for the president. No, confrontation or problem that broke out from the two different groups as polices are ready and set at the scene.
China has been under pressure to give more freedom to the people of Tibet and to allow the country to reach independence, however, Xi Jinping refused to do so and said that the country is still not ready for it. However, British Labour party, Corbyn promised his supporters that he will address the human rights issue when he meet with Xi Jinping in their meeting soon.