Britain’s Prime Minister has signalled a significant new approach to China by stating that the UK needs to revamp its stance towards the country.
In an annual foreign policy speech, the Prime Minister argued that the rise of China, now seen as the world’s second superpower, had more consequences for the British people than any other global situation.
The relationship has deteriorated to one of wariness since the “golden era” of former Prime Minister David Cameron, but Keir Starmer signalled on Monday night that he wanted overcome those difficulties in a major foreign policy speech.
“We had the golden age which then flipped to an Ice Age,” he said. "We reject that binary choice. So our response will not be driven by fear, nor softened by illusion. It will be grounded in strength, clarity and sober realism.”
“China is a nation of immense scale, ambition and ingenuity,” he told guests at the Lady Mayor’s banquet in London. “A defining force in technology, trade and global governance.”
The address to the Lady Mayor’s Banquet traditionally focuses on how the UK’s leadership on the world stage. Aides said this year the major theme was making the country safer and better off, as well as illustrating his pragmatic approach to China.
At the same time his comments acknowledged that China poses significant national security threats to Britain. Relations between the two countries have been difficult, with investigations over alleged Chinese spy rings in the UK parliament, concerns over China's human rights record and economic competition.
There are concerns that China has significant stakes in critical infrastructure such as Heathrow Airport, nuclear power stations and renewable energy. There are also worries over its motivations which led to the previous Conservative government banning Huawei from installing its 5G network across Britain, given the potential data it would provide.
That had led to a period of stagnation in relations between the UK and China, something that Mr Starmer condemned as “staggering” and “a dereliction of duty”. He signalled that Britain would now take a “grown-up approach” to the relationship.
It was not a question of “trading off security in one area for a bit more economic access somewhere else”, he said, but of taking robust steps to keep the UK secure, which would “enable ourselves to co-operate in other areas”.
It is understood that the speech’s more emollient approach to Beijing was partly to lay the groundwork for a probable official visit by Mr Starmer to China in the new year. That would be highly beneficial for Britain’s businesses, which could gain significantly from improved trading, especially in financial services, pharmaceuticals and luxury goods.
“The export opportunities are huge,” Mr Starmer told the audience, which included senior executives. “And we will back you to seize them,” he added, hinting at a trip to Beijing.
“In areas where there is no significant risk, we are going to give businesses the confidence, clarity and support they need to win these opportunities," he added.
He also suggested that Britain is looking to significantly reset its relationship with the EU, potentially with a new business deal, by criticising those in UK politics who had a “corrosive, inward-looking attitude”, who, by being more isolationist, “will only take Britain backwards”.
He said it was “a fatal misreading of the moment” in which they would be ducking the “fundamental challenge posed by a chaotic world which is more dangerous and unstable than at any point for a generation”.
