Keir Starmer to visit China with British business leaders next week, say reports | Foreign policy
Keir Starmer will reportedly visit China next week after Beijing’s controversial plans to build a major embassy in London were approved by his government.
According to Reuters, the British prime minister will lead a delegation of leading British companies. The same firms, including BP, HSBC, Intercontinental Hotels Group, Jaguar Land Rover and Rolls-Royce, were also said to be among those to join the revamped “UK-China CEO council”.
There was no comment from Downing Street early Wednesday. But national security adviser Jonathan Powell traveled to Beijing in November to meet China’s top diplomat Wang Yi ahead of Starmer’s expected trip.
The developments come amid turmoil surrounding the push to re-engage with China, including outrage last year over the dismissal of charges against two men accused of spying for Beijing.
The way forward for Starmer’s visit was cleared last week when Britain’s communities secretary, Steve Reed, gave China permission to build a new embassy near the Tower of London after spy chiefs told him risks to Britain’s national security could be controlled and addressed.
But local residents near the Royal Mint Court raised £145,000, which will have to be paid to lawyers who want to appeal the planning decision. They are expected to apply for judicial review within the next six weeks; It is likely that Reed made his decision without properly considering all the evidence.
Beijing is carrying out its planning for a new UK embassy in full compliance with international diplomatic practices and relevant laws and regulations, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said on Wednesday. Providing support and constructing diplomatic buildings is the international obligation of the host country, Guo Jiakun told reporters at a regular press conference.
Britain’s sensitive handling of relations with China also coincides with the ongoing diplomatic crisis surrounding Greenland. US President Donald Trump claimed that the region should become American to counter the security threat that may come from China and Russia in the Arctic.
The UK-China CEO council was first conceived by Britain’s then prime minister Theresa May and China’s then prime minister Li Keqiang in 2018, during what May and others described as a “golden age” of relations.
According to Reuters, the Chinese side should be represented by Bank of China, China Construction Bank, China Mobile, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and others.
The last British prime minister to visit China was in May 2018. Chancellor Rachel Reeves traveled to China with a business delegation in January and announced £600 million in investment. Energy Minister Ed Miliband and Trade Minister Peter Kyle also visited China for talks last year. High-ranking figures of the Chinese government made many visits to the UK during the same period.
