British minister scraps trip to Chinahome/News/World/British minister scraps trip to ChinaLONDON: Britain’s Finance Minister Philip Hammond has reportedly been forced to cancel a trip to China next week after plans to send a new aircraft carrier to the Pacific angered Beijing. Hammond was set to visit China for trade talks with senior government figures, but had axed the trip after Beijing reacted angrily this week to news of the warship’s planned deployment, according to British media reports. Although the visit was never formally announced by London, it had been under preparation for “many weeks,” the Financial Times (FT) said. The comments reportedly provoked anger in Beijing as well as consternation in British government departments eager to foster closer relations with the east Asian economic power. Meanwhile, diplomatic sources told the BBC the Chinese had made it clear “it is not going to happen for now”.

Source: Manila Times February 17, 2019 16:30 UTC