{"id":723692,"date":"2026-01-27T07:57:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-27T07:57:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/723692\/"},"modified":"2026-01-27T07:57:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-27T07:57:09","slug":"uks-starmer-heads-to-china-seeking-a-thaw-in-relations-but-risking-a-rift-with-trump","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/723692\/","title":{"rendered":"UK’s Starmer heads to China seeking a thaw in relations but risking a rift with Trump"},"content":{"rendered":"

LONDON — U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer<\/a> is heading to China, seeking a thaw in relations with Beijing at a time of strained ties with the United States.<\/p>\n

He’s hoping for an economic boost to Britain, but risks the wrath of China hawks at home \u2013 and of U.S. President Donald Trump<\/a>, who\u2019s already heaping tariffs and criticism on America\u2019s closest allies.<\/p>\n

Starmer is due to meet China\u2019s President Xi Jinping<\/a> during the visit that starts Wednesday, the first by a U.K. leader since 2018. He is expected to be accompanied by U.K. Business Secretary Peter Kyle and dozens of corporate chiefs as Britain seeks Chinese technology and investment, alongside greater access to the world\u2019s second-largest economy for U.K. financial services, cars and Scotch whisky.<\/p>\n

\u201cChina is no longer just the world\u2019s factory; it is also becoming a global market,\u201d said Zhao Minghao, a professor in the Institute of International Studies at Shanghai\u2019s Fudan University.<\/p>\n

Kerry Brown, director of the Lau China Institute at King\u2019s College London, said the trip comes as dramatic shifts in geopolitics<\/a> create new opportunities for U.K.-Chinese relations.<\/p>\n

But he said \u201cStarmer is going to be talking to a very skeptical audience.<\/p>\n

\u201cBritain has not been very consistent in its relations with China. We have been very hot and cold,\u201d Brown said.<\/p>\n

The relationship has soured since the short-lived \u201cgolden era\u201d proclaimed in 2015 by Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron, who took Xi to a traditional English pub during a state visit. Beijing\u2019s crackdown on civil liberties in Hong Kong<\/a>, China\u2019s support for Russia in the Ukraine war and growing concern about espionage and economic interference have widened the gap between London and Beijing.<\/p>\n

Cameron\u2019s Conservative successors<\/a> barred Chinese investment in sensitive telecoms infrastructure and squeezed China out of investment in new U.K. nuclear power plants.<\/p>\n

Starmer\u2019s center-left Labour Party government carried out a review of relations with Beijing after it was elected 18 months ago. It says its approach is one of hard-headed pragmatism \u2013 protecting national security from Chinese espionage and interference<\/a> while keeping up diplomatic dialogue and economic cooperation with the Asian superpower.<\/p>\n

Both Britain\u2019s economy \u2013 the world\u2019s sixth largest \u2013 and Starmer\u2019s popularity could use a boost.<\/p>\n

His government has struggled to deliver the economic growth it promised and ease a cost-of-living crisis for millions of households. Labour lags behind hard-right Reform UK in opinion polls, and nervous Labour lawmakers openly mull whether it would be better to ditch Starmer for a more charismatic leader, such as Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Starmer\u2019s visit to China comes as cracks are starting to appear in his attempt to strike up a warm relationship with Trump \u2013 efforts rewarded with a trade deal<\/a> that reduced U.S. tariffs on Britain\u2019s key auto and aerospace industries.<\/p>\n

For months Starmer refrained from public criticism as Trump attacked the mayor of London<\/a>, slammed British immigration policy and sued the BBC for $10 billion<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But in recent days, Starmer has spoken out against Trump\u2019s desire to take over Greenland \u2013 calling it \u201ccompletely wrong\u201d \u2013 and condemned Trump\u2019s disparaging comments about the role of U.K. and other NATO troops in Afghanistan, which Starmer called \u201cinsulting\u201d and \u201cappalling.\u201d<\/p>\n

Starmer travels to Beijing days after Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. Next month it\u2019s the turn of German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, as some of America\u2019s strongest allies hedge their bets against the unpredictable Trump.<\/p>\n

Zhao said growing unease among U.S. allies over Washington\u2019s recent policy moves, including on tariffs, Greenland and the war in Ukraine, \u201chave triggered a wave among allies to recalibrate their policies to \u2018de-risk\u2019 from the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n

But rapprochement with Beijing brings the risk of a rift with Washington. Trump has threatened to slap a 100% tariff on all Canadian goods after Carney struck a trade deal with China on his trip this month.<\/p>\n

Starmer\u2019s critics say the government is being naive about China\u2019s threat to Britain\u2019s security and weak in the face of pressure from Beijing.<\/p>\n

The trip follows U.K. approval of a 20,000 square-meter (around 215,000 square-foot) Chinese embassy<\/a> near the Tower of London despite strong opposition from critics who say the \u201cmega-embassy\u201d will make it easier for China to conduct espionage and intimidate dissidents<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Starmer also faces criticism over an agreement to hand over the Chagos Islands<\/a> in the Indian Ocean to Mauritius. The government says the move will secure the future of a key U.K.-U.S. military base against legal challenge, but critics argue it opens the door to Chinese influence. Last week Trump spoke out against the deal<\/a>, reversing his previous support.<\/p>\n

Human rights are another tricky area. Chris Patten, who was governor of Hong Kong from 1992 until the British colony was handed back to China in 1997, said Starmer should be firm in raising disagreements over issues including the treatment of China\u2019s Uyghur minority and the imprisonment of Jimmy Lai, a Hong Kong pro-democracy campaigner and British citizen.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to say with them, without being impolite, exactly what you think,\u201d Patten said. \u201cThey know we\u2019re different, but they want to have a reasonable relationship with us and, particularly given the state of the world with Trump, we should want to have a reasonable relationship with them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brown, from King’s College, said Starmer will likely consider his trip a success if it secures significant investment and avoids major political pitfalls.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat they\u2019re going to do is basically commit to consistency, a bit more predictability,\u201d he said. \u201cFriends where we can be friends, otherwise agree to disagree.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LONDON — U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer is heading to China, seeking a thaw in relations with Beijing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":723693,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5311],"tags":[215752,3907,2002,4179,5212,3058,285,49,978,659,263],"class_list":{"0":"post-723692","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-states","8":"tag-215752","9":"tag-article","10":"tag-espionage","11":"tag-general-news","12":"tag-government-policy","13":"tag-international-trade","14":"tag-politics","15":"tag-united-states","16":"tag-us","17":"tag-usa","18":"tag-world-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115966000672236948","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/723692","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=723692"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/723692\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/723693"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=723692"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=723692"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=723692"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}