Starmer to meet Xi for ‘pragmatic’ talks
The meeting, set for Monday at the G20, comes as London tries to defrost relations with Beijing.
RIO DE JANEIRO — Keir Starmer is set to meet Xi Jinping for the first face-to-face talks between the Chinese president and a British prime minister in more than six years.
Their meeting, scheduled for Monday at the G20 summit in Brazil, comes as the U.K. attempts to take the chill off relations with Beijing that set in during the Conservatives’ time in power.
The Labour chief said during his flight to Rio that he plans to have “serious, pragmatic discussions” with Xi, as he stressed just how important trade with China is.
Donald Trump might have something to say about that, however. The returning U.S. president threatens to slap 60 percent tariffs on goods from China under his “America first” policy.
Starmer, like much of the rest of the world, is weighing up what economic action to take if the Republican enacts those plans. Negotiating exceptions for Britain, reversing some of the impacts of Brexit by moving closer to the EU, and trying to rally trade with Beijing are all options.
Before winning a landslide election in July, Starmer’s Labour Party pledged to pursue legal routes to describe China’s persecution of the Uyghur Muslims as “genocide.”
That’s not the position Starmer takes today. En route to Brazil he told reporters: “Given the size of the economy, it is very important that we have a pragmatic and serious relationship — and that’s what I intend to pursue.”
Starmer will be the first U.K. PM to meet Xi since Theresa May’s February 2018 trip to Beijing. Rishi Sunak had planned a meeting in 2022 but the schedule was torn up as leaders held emergency meetings after a missile strike in NATO-member Poland near its border with Ukraine.
During a recent peak in relations in 2015, David Cameron declared a “golden era” with China while PM at a time when the Conservatives were actively courting Beijing.
Relations later frayed under Boris Johnson, however, as Trump pressured Britain to purge Chinese firm Huawei from Britain’s 5G network. Given that the matter was one of national security, the U.K. sided with America, but the move clearly soured relations with China.
Trump may well want to make that relationship more awkward again.
Elsewhere on the diplomatic front, Starmer is planning to use the G20 summit to rally support for Ukraine against Russia’s invasion as the conflict grinds toward its 1,000th day.
“There’s got to be full support for as long as it takes and that certainly is top of my agenda, shoring up that further support for Ukraine,” the prime minister told reporters.
Though he didn’t mention Trump, it’s clear allies are trying to do all they can before he reenters the White House, considering he’s cast doubt on U.S. support for Kyiv.
At the G20, Starmer is expected to push Joe Biden for a $20 billion loan to Ukraine during his last weeks as president. The prime minister will also seek approval for Ukraine to use Storm Shadow missiles to target sites deep within Russia.
Starmer declined to criticize German Chancellor Olaf Scholz for speaking with Russian President Vladimir Putin — in their first reported call in nearly two years. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, conversely, likened the call to opening “Pandora’s box.”
“It’s a matter for Chancellor Scholz who he speaks to,” Starmer said, adding: “I have no plans to speak to Putin.”
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