SIR Keir Starmer will today become the first British Prime Minister in five years to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping as he pushes to revive strained UK-China ties.
The Prime Minister vowed to have “serious and pragmatic” discussions with Beijing on the first day of the G20 summit in Brazil.
2
The historic meeting comes amid fears of a global trade war after Donald Trump’s US election victory.
The President-elect has already threatened to impose tariffs of up to 60 per cent on Chinese exports.
Speaking to reporters on his way to the summit in Rio de Janeiro, the PM said: “I am planning to have a bilateral with president Xi at the G20. I think that’s important.
“We are both global players, global powers, both permanent members of the security council and of the G20.
“China’s economy is obviously the second biggest in the world. It’s one of our biggest trading partners and therefore I will be having serious, pragmatic discussions with the president when I meet him.”
Sir Keir also dodged questions on his previous accusation that Xi’s regime was guilty of genocide against the Uyghur Muslims, saying: “I think Rishi Sunak used in his very last PMQs or the one before to ask me about China so there’s a whole series of answers there in terms of my position.”
China is the UK’s fifth-largest trading partner, with exports to Beijing rising from £20 billion in 2016 to £33 billion last year.
The last British prime minister to meet Xi was Theresa May in 2018, during what Beijing called the “golden era” of British-Sino relations.
But ties have since soured over China’s crackdown in Hong Kong, spying fears and human rights abuses against Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang.
Tory former party leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith blasted the talks, telling The Sun: “This is very sad.
“Those suffering genocide and slave labour under the brutal hands of Xi will feel betrayed. We also know China is guilty of supporting Russia in its invasion of Ukraine with the deaths of 100 of thousands of people.
“With sanctioned MP’s like me clear that China and its axis of totalitarian states pose a huge threat to us in the free world.”
MI5 chief Ken McCallum warned last year of the risk that China continued to present by trying to steal “cutting-edge” British technological research.
2
