Backgrounder: Recent rifts between China & Britain

China and Britain have enjoyed strong ties as important world powers. But differing national and regional interests have caused both countries to be at odds on certain issues. Let's look at some of the recent rifts between China and Britain.

Akmal Shaikh was a British national convicted by China's Supreme People's Court for drug smuggling. He was executed on December the 29th last year in Urumqi, capital of northwestern Xinjiang Ugyur Autonomous Region. The British government opposed the execution and voiced its concerns to the Chinese Ambassador in London. The Chinese Foreign Ministry responded with strong dissatisfaction, saying it was an individual criminal case that had been handled in accordance with China's law.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (R) meets with British Foreign Secretary David  Miliband in Beijing, capital of China, March 16, 2010. (Xinhua/Li Tao)

British Energy and Climate Change Secretary, Ed Miliband, published an article in "The Guardian" newspaper on December the 20th, 2009. In it he claimed China tried to "hijack" the Copenhagen climate conference. China's Xinhua News Agency hit back two days later, rejecting the accusation as "unfounded, unreasonable and unfair". China's Foreign Ministry said the country had made arduous efforts to push forward the progress of the Copenhagen conference and adopted a series of active measures and policies on combating climate change.

China and Britain are both permanent members of the UN Security Council, as well as key members of the six-nation alliance dealing with Iran's nuclear issue. Britain has aligned itself with other Western countries in calling for further sanctions, while China and Russia have upheld that dialogue and negotiations remain the best means of achieving a diplomatic solution.