Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing on Thursday.Carl Court/Reuters
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer became the latest United States ally to visit Beijing this week, joining Canada, South Korea and much of Europe in seeking closer ties with China amid unprecedented hostility from Washington toward its traditional partners.
In a meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Thursday, both men expressed a desire for a reset after years of strained relations over the former British colony of Hong Kong and London’s concerns about Chinese threats to national security.
Mr. Starmer is facing immense political pressure back home, where he is almost unprecedentedly unpopular despite winning a large majority just two years ago. A successful China trip could help his centre-left Labour Party deliver on its promises to boost the economy, but Mr. Starmer must also balance any progress with continuing suspicion of Beijing, particularly from the British right, and demands that he do more to secure the release of Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai, a British citizen.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday that he wanted to build a 'sophisticated relationship' with Beijing to bolster security and the economy, signalling a reset after years of strained ties.
Reuters
Speaking in the Chinese capital, Mr. Starmer said, “China is a vital player on the global stage, and it’s vital that we build a more sophisticated relationship where we can identify opportunities to collaborate, but, of course, also allow a meaningful dialogue on areas where we disagree.”
Mr. Xi acknowledged that relations with London have gone through various “twists and turns” in recent years, but said China was “willing to develop a long-term, stable and comprehensive strategic partnership with Britain, which will benefit the people of both countries and also the world.”
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The last British premier who visited China was Theresa May in 2018, when the two countries were still enjoying a so-called “golden era” of relations, and many in the Conservative government saw China as a potential economic counterweight to the self-inflicted wound of Britain’s exit from the European Union.
Ties began to crater the next year, however, as mass pro-democracy protests broke out in Hong Kong, where millions took to the streets to demand Beijing live up to the promises it made when assuming control over the former British territory. Ms. May’s successor, Boris Johnson, infuriated China by offering a path to citizenship for millions of Hong Kongers, and relations were further strained when Britain followed the U.S. in banning Chinese telecom manufacturer Huawei from its 5G network.
As in Canada, Beijing has faced accusations of seeking to interfere in British politics, including spying on and intimidating Hong Kong activists living in the U.K. A furor broke out over Chinese plans to build a so-called “mega” embassy in central London, with the right-wing press leading a campaign to highlight alleged spying fears, despite Britain’s security services saying they had no objections to the project, which was finally approved this month.
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In a statement ahead of his trip, Mr. Starmer defended seeking a reset with China, saying, “Working people and U.K. businesses will benefit from a more strategic and consistent U.K. relationship with China.” The Prime Minister is travelling with more than 50 business leaders, highlighting the economic focus of his trip.
“For years, our approach to China has been dogged by inconsistency – blowing hot and cold, from Golden Age to Ice Age. But like it or not, China matters for the U.K.,” Mr. Starmer said. “As one of the world’s biggest economic players, a strategic and consistent relationship with them is firmly in our national interest. That does not mean turning a blind eye to the challenges they pose – but engaging even where we disagree.”
This, he pointed out, “is what our allies do.” And indeed, Britain had become something of an outlier in the West as multiple European nations, the U.S. and now Canada have repaired relations with Beijing that frayed at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and a move to “de-risk” from China.
Speaking to reporters after meetings with Chinese officials on Thursday, Mr. Starmer praised “very good, productive” discussions leading to “a real strengthening of the relationship.”
“We made some really good progress on tariffs for whisky, on visa-free travel to China, and on information exchange and co-operation on irregular migration, focusing particularly on small boats and engine parts,” he said.
Mr. Starmer added that he also had a “respectful discussion” with Mr. Xi regarding the case of Mr. Lai, the former Apple Daily publisher, who is awaiting sentencing after being found guilty on national security charges.
Like Canadians, British voters have also become more supportive of the idea of improved ties with China since the return to power of U.S. President Donald Trump. A recent poll by YouGov found the same amount of British respondents – around a quarter – see China as a “major threat” to the U.K. as they do the U.S.
Mr. Starmer has cultivated a close relationship with Mr. Trump and has been far warier of criticizing the volatile American leader than his Canadian counterpart, Prime Minister Mark Carney. This may shape how far he will go in making deals with Beijing, particularly after Mr. Trump threatened new tariffs against Canada after Mr. Carney’s own successful mission to China this month.
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But even Mr. Starmer’s patience with Mr. Trump appeared to be running thin this month, as he criticized the U.S. leader over his threats to annex Greenland, and then more severely over his insults to British troops who fought in Afghanistan – a rare instance where Mr. Trump actually backed down, saying U.K. soldiers were, in fact, “among the greatest of all warriors.”
Speaking to Bloomberg this week, Mr. Starmer rejected the notion that closer ties with China could come at the expense of relations with the U.S.
“I’m often invited to simply choose between countries. I don’t do that,” he told the news agency. “I remember when I was doing the U.S. trade deal, and everybody put to me that I’d have to make a choice between the U.S. and Europe, and I said, ‘I’m not making that choice.’”
With reports from Reuters