UK lines up new ambassador to help rebuild China ties

21/2/2025 15:43

Britain has lined up a Mandarin-speaking diplomat whose father was a governor of Hong Kong as the next ambassador to China, according to three sources, and he is expected to take up one of the most challenging roles in British diplomacy later this year.



Peter Wilson, who worked briefly as principal private secretary to former prime minister Boris Johnson and has served as the British ambassador to the Netherlands and Brazil, is expected to replace the current ambassador, Caroline Wilson, in the next few months, according to two of the sources.



The new appointment comes at a time when Britain's Labour government continues to step up its diplomatic engagement with China after years of tensions under successive Conservative governments over human rights, Hong Kong, and restrictions on investment over security concerns.



Peter Wilson previously worked at the British embassy in Beijing where he was political counsellor from 2007 to 2010 and as a more junior diplomat from 1995 to 1998, according to his biography on the foreign ministry's website.



His father, David Wilson, was the penultimate British governor of Hong Kong between 1987 and 1992.