Sir Keir Starmer has stated he intends to pursue a “pragmatic” relationship with China when he meets President Xi Jinping on the G20 summit.
The prime minister stated the dimensions of China’s financial system and its membership of the UN safety council meant he wished to have “serious and pragmatic discussions” with the Chinese language chief throughout his time in Rio de Janeiro.
Chatting with reporters on a aircraft certain for the Brazilian metropolis, Sir Keir stated the UK and China had been “both global players, global powers, both permanent members of the security council and of the G20”.
Ukraine struggle newest: Russia launches ‘huge assault’ on Ukraine’s energy grid
“China’s economy is obviously the second biggest in the world,” he stated.
“It’s one of our biggest trading partners and therefore I will be having serious, pragmatic discussions with the president when I meet him.”
What can Rio 2024 actually obtain in Biden’s ultimate act, earlier than new present rolls into city?
Local weather change, the disaster within the Center East, the persevering with struggle in Ukraine, combating international poverty.
All of those are important points for Britain and past; all of them up for discussions on the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro this week, and all of them very a lot in limbo because the world awaits the arrival of president-elect Donald Trump to the White Home.
As a result of whereas US President Joe Biden used NATO, the G7 and the G20, as boards to attempt to discover consensus on a few of the most urgent points going through the West, his successor is prone to take a reasonably totally different method. And that begs the query going into Rio 2024 about what can actually be achieved in Mr Biden’s ultimate act earlier than the brand new present rolls into city.
Learn the remainder of Beth’s evaluation
Sir Keir’s assembly with President Xi – his first as prime minister and the primary of any prime minister in six years – will happen on the sidelines of the G20 summit, the place the struggle in Ukraine, the battle within the Center East and local weather change are prone to high the agenda.
Donald Trump’s victory within the US election earlier this month has additionally sparked issues of a worldwide commerce struggle in gentle of the president-elect’s risk to impose blanket 60% tariffs on US imports of Chinese language items – one thing the UK will need to mitigate the worst impacts of.
The earlier Conservative authorities had a fancy relationship with China, owing to disagreements over its therapy of prosecution of pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong and its shut relationship with Russia amid the struggle in Ukraine.
Quite a few Conservative backbenchers urged Rishi Sunak to improve its evaluation of China from an “epoch-defining challenge” to a risk.
Picture:
Joe Biden meets Xi Jinping for the final time as president.
Pic: Reuters
The calls got here after the federal government blamed China “state-affiliated actors” for 2 “malicious” cyberattack campaigns within the UK again in March. China rejected the accusations, saying they had been “completely unfounded”.
Sir Keir and his overseas secretary, David Lammy, have additionally been important of China up to now – significantly relating to allegations of human rights abuses in opposition to the Uyghur individuals in Xinjiang.
In January 2021, in response to a vote within the Commons on commerce offers between the UK and international locations which are suspected of committing genocide, Sir Keir posted on X: “Labour condemns the persecution of the Uyghur community in China. We will be supporting amendments in parliament today to ensure Britain never turns a blind eye to genocide.”
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Requested whether or not he nonetheless stood by what he stated almost 4 years in the past, Sir Keir pointed to a latest session of prime minister’s questions the place he criticised China’s army exercise within the Taiwan strait when requested to take action by Mr Sunak.
He added: “But I do think it’s important that we have serious engagement, which is what I will be pursuing in my bilateral at the G20.”
This 12 months’s G20 might be one of many final outings on the world stage for US President Joe Biden earlier than Mr Trump enters the White Home in January.
