On April 14, 2008, Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo met with visiting British Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling, also British Prime Minister Gordon Brown's special representative, who is here for the First China-UK Economic and Financial Dialogue in Beijing. Both sides exchanged views on deepening China-UK comprehensive strategic partnership, agreeing to make joint efforts in furthering bilateral friendly cooperation in all areas to push forward bilateral ties.

During the Meeting, Dai introduced the facts about the recent riots in Lhasa and the essence of the incident, and presented the principled position of the Chinese government on the issue. Darling said the Tibet question is China's internal affair and the United Kingdom (UK) is opposed to any attempts at Tibetan independence. Darling also said that a boycott of the Beijing Olympics would be a mistake, and the UK objects to politicizing the event. He also expressed his wishes for Beijing's successful hosting of the Olympic Games. According to Darling, Brown will attend the closing ceremony of the Games this summer.