Good morning. The Starmer has landed. Yesterday, Keir Starmer became the first British prime minister to make the trip to China since Theresa May’s in 2018 (meaning a surprisingly large number of PMs didn’t) and has vowed to bring “stability and clarity” to the UK’s approach to Beijing. Ahead of talks with Starmer, Chinese leader Xi Jinping has said the UK’s relationship with his country had gone through “twists and turns” over the years but that a more “consistent” approach was in both their interests. In response, Starmer told Xi…
Tag: World news
Keir Starmer to hold talks with Xi to bolster economic ties with China
Keir Starmer will meet the Chinese president Xi Jinping on Thursday for historic talks he hopes will deepen economic ties at a time when some inside government fear the US is no longer a reliable partner. The prime minister – the first UK leader to visit China in eight years – will hold a 40-minute meeting with Xi at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing before a number of cultural and business receptions. On the flight to Beijing, Starmer told journalists he wanted to bring “stability and clarity”…
Burner phones and lead-lined bags: a history of UK security tactics in China
When prime ministers travel to China, heightened security arrangements are a given – as is the quiet game of cat and mouse that takes place behind the scenes as each country tests out each other’s tradecraft and capabilities. Keir Starmer’s team has been issued with burner phones and fresh sim cards, and is using temporary email addresses, to prevent devices being loaded with spyware or UK government servers being hacked into. The employment of such tactics may sound dramatic but they are par for the course in an age of…
US intelligence agencies disagree with Trump’s opposition to Chagos deal, says Starmer
US intelligence agencies disagree with Donald Trump’s newly found opposition to the Chagos deal, Keir Starmer has said, as he underlined how the US administration had supported the deal as it bolstered their defences. The prime minister made his remarks, which could undermine the US president’s fresh view of the deal as an “act of great stupidity”, on the flight to Beijing for a visit that will cover UK national security among other issues. Downing Street sources have told the Guardian the agreement, which was formally approved by Starmer and…
China lags behind US at AI frontier but could quickly catch up, say experts
Beijing’s AI policy is focused on real-life applications but Chinese companies are beginning to articulate their own grand visions Standing on stage in the eastern China tech hub of Hangzhou, Alibaba’s normally media-shy CEO made an attention-grabbing announcement. “The world today is witnessing the dawn of an AI-driven intelligent revolution,” Eddie Wu told a developer conference in September. “Artificial general intelligence (AGI) will not only amplify human intelligence but also unlock human potential, paving the way for the arrival of artificial superintelligence (ASI).” ASI, Wu said, “could produce a generation…
Starmer vows to raise issues ‘that need to be raised’ with Xi amid push to free Jimmy Lai
Keir Starmer has said he will “raise the issues that need to be raised” on human rights with China’s leader, Xi Jinping, as he arrived in Beijing for the first trip to the country by a UK leader in eight years. The prime minister has come under pressure from rights groups to try to secure the release of Jimmy Lai, the jailed former media tycoon and one of Hong Kong’s most significant pro-democracy voices. The British citizen faces spending the rest of his life in prison after he was found…
From the Burnham row to the China visit, avoiding hard choices is the Starmer doctrine | Rafael Behr
There comes a point in a prime minister’s career when foreign travel offers respite from domestic trouble. Even when relations with the host country are tricky, as Britain’s are with China, the dignifying protocols of statecraft make a beleaguered politician feel valued. Next comes the phase where missions overseas feel dangerous because plotters can organise more openly against absent leaders. Keir Starmer is in transit between those two zones of decline. His position is not yet imperilled by the row over Andy Burnham’s thwarted ambition to run in the Gorton…
Doomsday Clock at 85 seconds to midnight amid threats from climate crisis and AI
Planet closer to destruction as Russia, China and US become more aggressive and nationalistic, says advocacy group Earth is closer than it has ever been to destruction as Russia, China, the US and other countries become “increasingly aggressive, adversarial, and nationalistic”, a science-oriented advocacy group said on Tuesday as it advanced its Doomsday Clock to 85 seconds until midnight. The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientist members had an initial demonstration on Friday and then announced their results on Tuesday. Continue reading… The Guardian
‘I lost part of my heart’: last of Japan’s pandas leave for China as ties fray
Hundreds at zoo in Tokyo say farewell to Lei Lei and Xiao Xiao, as China ends ‘panda diplomacy’ with Japan Hundreds of people have gathered to say farewell to two popular pandas departing Tokyo for China, leaving Japan without any of the beloved bears for the first time in 50 years, as ties between the Asian neighbours fray. Panda twins Lei Lei and Xiao Xiao were transported by truck out of Ueno zoological gardens, their birthplace, disappointing many Japanese fans who have grown attached to the furry four-year-olds. Continue reading……
Starmer’s fraught visit to China will tell us what he really thinks of the UK’s place in the world | Peter Frankopan
This week, Keir Starmer will reportedly visit China. This will be the first trip of this kind by a British prime minister since Theresa May’s three-day visit to Beijing in 2018. Since then, relations between London and Beijing have become increasingly fraught, caught between growing security concerns and deep economic interdependence. Allegations of espionage and influence operations have sharpened political and public suspicion in the UK, even as deep trade links and supply chains on which the country depends make disengagement unrealistic. As fierce debate about the recent approval for…