In response, Keiichi Hayashi, the Japanese ambassador to the UK, wrote an op-ed in the same newspaper headlined: "China risks becoming Asia's Voldemort".

[4] In 2018, Liu published a signed article in The Guardian on the subject of the US-China trade war, noting that while China was still open to negotiation, the US is maintaining a position of unilateralism.

[5] In early May 2018, Liu noted that the North Korean government was closely watching the details surrounding the United States withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal.

He further said "Recently, however, the House of Commons foreign affairs select committee issued a report accusing China of "interfering" with academic freedom in British universities.

He urged students to practice patriotism and "serve your motherland" — activities he described as the "foundation of all endeavor and the highest ambition in life" and also encouraged them to contribute to "China-UK exchanges and cooperation" and "bridge the cultural gap".

After being shown a clip of a woman claiming to have been subjected to forced sterilization, Liu blamed such reports on "some small group of anti-China elements.

[17] On February 9, 2020, Liu said Tory politicians opposed to telecoms equipment maker Huawei playing a role in the UK's 5G network are conducting "a witch-hunt".

[21] The same day, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang had said Hunt was "obsessed with the bad habit of criticizing and lecturing on other countries' affairs condescendingly".

This resulted in Liu being summoned to the British Foreign Office to explain the "unacceptable and inaccurate" comments and Hunt warned of "serious consequences" if China exercised a human rights crackdown because of the protests.

[2] In September 2022, Liu attended the funeral of Elizabeth II in London alongside Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan.