Election a boost to Sino-UK ties

The summoning of Fu Ying, China's former ambassador to the UK, to the Foreign Office in London over the execution of Briton Akmal Shaikh last year marked a low in foreign relations between Britain and China. Fu, now vice-foreign minister, had been a popular figure in Britain. She was at the center of a diplomatic row when Sino-British relations turned frosty.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown's announcement on Tuesday the general election would be held on May 6 brings these relations into focus once again. The poll could herald the first change in government since just before the handover of Hong Kong in 1997.

A new government led by David Cameron, the 43-year-old Conservative leader, has already signaled there might be a change in foreign policy. He has said Britain should have a "solid but not slavish" relationship with the US and build stronger ties with emerging economic superpowers such as China.