Why Starmer’s China trip has come at the worst possible time
WWhen Keir Starmer flies to Beijing today, he will become the first prime minister to visit China in eight years.
But instead of a potential history-making trip or discussions surrounding his visit, the prime minister may be anxiously considering Margaret Thatcher’s fate in 1990, given her travails with Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham.
At the time, the Iron Lady had gone to a dinner at the Palace of Versailles to celebrate the end of the Cold War in the midst of a vote on her leadership. When he failed to get enough votes to send Michael Heseltine off, he left the dinner with his fate sealed and returned home to find that he had, in fact, been dethroned.
While Starmer hasn’t quite reached the same crisis point in his premiership, it’s fair to say that plans to oust him are now in full swing, whether it’s Andy Burnham’s attempts to return to parliament, the machinations of health minister Wes Streeting or former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner.
So maybe this isn’t the best time for a five-day trip to Beijing. While he is away, the plot will intensify as anger grows over Burnham’s decision to prevent him from standing in the Gorton and Denton by-elections.
Meanwhile, the prime minister, who has been hitting the tearooms in recent weeks to calm the nerves of Labor MPs, won’t be there to deal with the issue.
Starmer may have until the local elections in May to face a reckoning, but a reckoning looks set to come sooner rather than later.
However, there are other issues regarding this trip to China that the Prime Minister should explain more clearly; the controversial nature of what at least some would see as kneeling in President Xi Jinping’s court.
‘I’m never here Keir’
Opponents will welcome the opportunity to dust off the “Never here Keir” nonsense – Starmer’s alleged frequent absences abroad – but the prime minister is determined to end what he calls the “ice age” under previous Tory governments and improve Britain’s ties with China.
The last Prime Minister to make this journey was Theresa May, who went on an official visit in 2018; It was a rare respite from the repatriation travails of Brexit that eventually forced him to resign.
But as Starmer flies to Beijing, the world is becoming more unstable than it has been in a generation.
His relationship with Donald Trump appears to have reached its lowest point yet, with the US president openly mocking him over the Chagos Islands deal and threatening to impose tariffs on the UK for backing Denmark over Greenland.
Even worse is the insult to British veterans who fought in support of American troops in Afghanistan. And the fact that Starmer has yet to accept Trump’s invitation to join the Gaza peace council is a sign that things have gone terribly wrong.
This means the prime minister’s careful positioning of the UK as the “bridge” between the US and Europe is all but dead as a policy.
‘Super embassy’ decision and spies
It is no coincidence that his visit to China comes just days after his government authorized the construction of a new “super embassy” in central London, despite security warnings from MI5.
There are also strange questions about whether the agreement with Mauritius to transfer the Chagos Islands to them will open the door to China, which disturbs the Trump administration.
There are other problems too. China’s ongoing persecution of political dissidents in Hong Kong and its abandonment of the agreement handed over to Britain in 1997. The imprisonment of British citizen Jimmy Lai is an ongoing wound. Not to mention the persecution of Uyghurs.
There are also the problems of Chinese agents acting against dissidents in the UK, China stealing copyrighted material from the UK, and the dangers of Chinese companies investing in universities and infrastructure.
And of course, the anger over the cancellation of the parliamentary hearing of two suspected Chinese spies is still attributed by many to Starmer and his government.
All these issues and more make the prime minister’s visit extremely controversial, to say the least.
Going to grow
The reality is that the prime minister needs to go and ask for Chinese investment in the UK – just as chancellor Rachel Reeves did last year.
Economic problems, lack of growth, wealthy people leaving the country and international turmoil mean Britain cannot turn down Chinese investment. In many ways, Starmer goes hand in hand with the leaders of France and Germany, who have both visited Beijing in recent months.
But in a world where there is no stability and Britain is struggling to find its place, Starmer has no choice but to go to China and plead his case.
But in reality he is suspicious of the Chinese Communist Party and guarding against its excesses, while continuing the policy of previous Tory governments of engaging with Beijing.
As Starmer sets out to build for the future of the UK and his own government, he may be wondering how long he personally has to serve as prime minister. A flight to China could easily turn into a trip back in time, just as it did under Theresa May’s failed government.
