Chinese President Hu Begins Uk Visit

The Chinese president, Hu Jintao, arrived in London today for a three-day state visit to Britain.

Included in his itinerary are a ceremonial welcome from the Queen, a state banquet at Buckingham Palace and talks with Tony Blair.

The London Eye and Somerset House, both overlooking the Thames, are among the London landmarks that will later be bathed in red lights in his honour.

He will not be so warmly welcomed, however, by human rights activists, who are staging protests over China's occupation of Tibet and the one-party state's treatment of dissidents and the Falung Gong sect.

Environmental groups also believe China's economic boom and its galloping consumption of oil and coal are contributing to global warming.

When Jiang Zemin, Mr Hu's predecessor, visited London in 1999, heavy-handed policing was used to keep demonstrators out of view. This time, though, protests are expected along the Mall as the presidential convoy approaches Buckingham palace.

Alison Reynolds, the director of the campaign Free Tibet, said she wanted "robust representations to be made by all our political leaders who will meet China's president, calling for Hu Jintao to meet the Dalai Lama and resolve the occupation of Tibet".

Amnesty International urged Tony Blair to raise human rights issues during his talks with Mr Hu. Stephen Bowen, the UK campaign director, said China's economic progress should not "blind" the UK to the denial of basic rights.

"China still massively restricts freedom of expression and information, still executes more people than the rest of the world put together and still harasses and detains people who stand up for human rights," he said.

Mr Hu will also meet the Liberal Democrat and Conservative leaders, Charles Kennedy and Michael Howard.

Menzies Campbell, foreign affairs spokesman for the Liberal Democrats, said Mr Kennedy would be raising human rights issues "firmly but respectfully" when he met the Chinese president.

Mr Blair, who on his last visit to China said the country had "an unstoppable momentum" towards democracy, will attempt to boost British economic interests in China and win Beijing's support for the European Union in its dispute with Iran over its nuclear programme.

Adam Ward, an Asia analyst at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, told Bloomberg China was "an actor on the international security stage" and said there was now a realisation that trade, security and human rights were linked.

The visit comes as the economically booming eastern nation builds its links to the west, despite unease over Beijing's lack of democratic reforms.

Mr Hu travels to Germany and Spain later this week and the US president, George Bush, flies to Beijing on November 19.