Asked about
referendum at press conference, premier says that he wants to see a 'united
United Kingdom'
theguardian.com,
Press Association, Tuesday 17 June 2014
Chinese premier Li Keqiang at a press conference with British PM David Cameron, where he was asked about Scottish independence. Photograph: Neil Hall/Reuters |
The Chinese
premier, Li Keqiang, has said he wants to see a "united United
Kingdom", in an apparent boost for the no campaign before September's
Scottish independence referendum.
Li was
asked about the referendum at a joint press conference with David Cameron in
Westminster. Li said he wanted a "strong, prosperous and united United
Kingdom".
He added:
"I believe that the United Kingdom can stay at the forefront in leading
the world's growth and development and also continue to play an important and
even bigger role for regional stability and global peace." But he added:
"We certainly respect the choice you make."
A spokesman
for the Yes Scotland campaign said: "Unlike people in China, people here
will have a free and democratic vote on 18 September when they will decide on
the future of their country. We believe that decision will be yes."
This month,
Barack Obama said during a joint press conference with Cameron in Brussels that
he wanted the UK to remain "strong, robust and united", in a clear
hint that he would prefer a no vote in September's referendum.
Hillary
Clinton, his former secretary of state and a potential US presidential
candidate, told the BBC last week that she "would hate to have you lose
Scotland. I hope that doesn't happen but I don't have a vote in Scotland."
The day
after her interview was broadcast, Pope Francis gave a guarded warning about the
risks of national division, in a Spanish newspaper interview interpreted as a
warning about Scottish independence. He told La Vanguardia newspaper that
"all division worries me".
There were
a number of different secession movements in Europe, he said, adding:
"There will be cases that are just and others that are unjust, but the
secession of a nation without a history of forced unity has to be handled with
tweezers and analysed case by case."
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