Tag: Keir Starmer

China is Building a Community With a Shared Future for Mankind: Is the West Joining?

Posted on By Joshua Kingdom

When President Donald Trump of the United States withdrew the invitation of Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney to his “Board of Peace” on January 22nd 2026, in a Truth Social post, the incident continued a pattern of spiraling tensions between the two North American states that might well produce more moments of antagonism in the near future. By no means though is this a one-off situation. The current administration in Washington has placed its boot on the necks of almost every one of their traditional allies so much so that many are being forced to rethink their stance on China.

No recent occasion has brought this reality to light more vividly than this year’s World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland. Convening at a time that the US had not yet recalled its decision to takeover Greenland, the leaders there minced no words on the matter or Trump’s other unpopular foreign policy tropes. The Belgian Premier Bart De Wever for instance, rallied his colleagues to “unite and… say to Donald Trump … ‘You’re crossing red lines here.’” As for the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, she remarked that the shift in times had forced a European consensus to move away from doing business as usual.

China comes in the picture because reduced reliance on the United States of America means that the EU, Australia, England etc. have to hedge themselves against the cost that comes with losing access to what has been their biggest market destination going back decades. Indeed, the Asian economic household has been host to back-to-back high level delegations from countries like Ireland, Finland, South Korea, France, and most recently the United Kingdom. It is the case too that more are expected to follow including Germany.

Importantly, these countries are not merely making stopovers. Very concrete agreements have been struck between them and Beijing thereby showing the extent to which a new world order is being forged. Inside the Great Hall of the People thus, the British renown pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca committed to an investment of $15bn into China in the coming four years. This was during Keir Starmer’s Beijing mission. Octopus Energy Chief Executive Officer Greg Jackson also announced a partnership with China’s Pacific Century Group marking the company’s first entry in Beijing. Other resolutions revolved around visa free travel for short visits and tariffs reduction for commodities already being exported between the two nations.

Interestingly, this new approach fits well with Xi Jinping’s longstanding proposal for inter-state affairs dubbed Building a Community With a Shared Future for Humanity (BCWSFH). Working with countries from all corners of the world through fora such as the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, BRICS, China-Arab States Summit et.al, the statesman has sought to forge a new way of thinking on the international scene rooted in the notion that because the planet is our shared home, if push comes to shove, the problems ailing one state will at least inadvertently derail her neighbors too. Furthermore, BCWSFH has been adopted in multiple General Assembly resolutions at the United Nations.

When the British PM told journalists that framing his China state visit as a move to abandon Washington for Beijing was a false dichotomy thus, he was (knowingly or otherwise) espousing one of the core tenets of BCWSFH i.e. that because the future of the human race is the same no matter where one lives, our fundamental interests are similar and that therefore, we should not seek to divide ourselves in camps. Of course, some (like the members of the press that Sir Kir Stamer was addressing) still view things in an us vs. them lens but things do not have to stay that way.

BCWSFH’s emphasis on multilateralism equally acts to counterbalance the winds presently blowing from Washington. Rather than place the bargain of sovereignty at the mercy of the strongest among nations as USA has decided, this agenda flips things making it a “special responsibility” for the said countries to encourage cooperation among all peoples of the world as well as maintaining global stability. In insisting that Europe was not going to bend to the laws of the jungle during his Davos address hence, President Emmanuel Macron of France was keeping with the stipulation that he together with President Xi spelled out when they met at the end of last year. Therein, the world leaders affirmed that to be on the right side of history, they each had to spearhead dialogue and openness among members of the global community.

Countries in the West thus stand at unique point in time. Should they keep up with the present trajectory of joining with the forces that are reimaging the future, the project’s success could force the US to equally revise its misguided course down the road.

Joshua Kingdom is a Research Fellow at the Development Watch Centre.

 

 

On Keir Starmer’s Visit to China

Posted on By Nnanda Kizito Sseruwagi

It had been almost eight years since a British Prime Minister had last set foot in Beijing. Keir Starmer’s January 28 visit to China is therefore a pivotal moment that signals a recalibration of UK-China relations, in particular, and British foreign policy generally, especially given the current paradigm shifts Western nations are making in the face of an increasingly fragmented global order. It has now become obvious to middle powers that, in the post-Cold War era, their economic and security concerns may not be permanently and reliably abdicated to the American leadership.

To understand the objective of Starmer’s trip, let’s look at the composition of his delegation to Beijing. Among his nearly 60-member entourage were cultural representatives and business executives from some of Britain’s major corporations, such as HSBC (a British universal bank and financial services group), AstraZeneca (a British-Swedish multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company), and Airbus (a European aerospace corporation). Both the entourage and the timing of the visit speak to economic engagement as Starmer’s primary objective at a time when the Labour government he leads is struggling at home to deliver on its economic growth promises. Whereas there is a trade deficit between the UK’s trade with China – the UK, having long-ceased to be the world’s workshop – in the services sector, the UK enjoys a surplus. This implies that there is a demand in the Chinese market for British services if Britain could leverage its expertise in finance, consulting, and professional services.

However, it is not just economic interests at the table for this visit. The past few years and even months have been frosty in the bilateral relations of the two nations. In the past, there were concerns in the UK over allegations of Chinese espionage. The UK also raised queries on claims that China was supporting Russia in the Ukrainian conflict. And of course, in typical Western fashion, the UK has always contested the way China governs in Hong Kong, claiming there is a crackdown on civil liberties. Two months before Keir Starmer’s visit, Jimmy Lai, a British citizen, had also been a subject of conflict between the two states following his conviction under Hong Kong’s national security law. As such, whereas Starmer may pragmatically focus on prioritising economic opportunities for Britain, the issue of human rights will linger in the background.

In order to show a spirit of good faith, which is key in improving relations, Starmer also approved the construction of a mega Chinese embassy in London ahead of his trip, which is one of the trade-offs taken to reset diplomatic relations between the two countries. This is a good move since, in any negotiation, each party needs to make concessions to build trust.

Keir Starmer’s government has articulated its approach to UK-China relations as characterised by a comprehensive and consistent strategy. This strategy is defined by the compartmentalisation of various aspects of the two countries’ relations in order to separate economic cooperation from the often sticky, contentious political concerns. Nevertheless, it is plausibly expected that there will be domestic opposition in the UK over the traditional points of suspicion and accusations regarding human rights violations, espionage, and related concerns, which other political parties in the UK will exploit to undermine the achievements Starmer’s Labour party is trying to realise.

If we take a broader vantage point of the developments in the global geopolitical arena, we find that Starmer’s context is shared by multiple Western leaders who have recently sought to improve relations with China and proactively reconfigure their ties with Beijing. Among the recent guests in the red dragon’s courtyard were French President Emmanuel Macron, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. Clearly, middle powers have established a pattern of hedging their bets with China in the midst of increasing unpredictability and uncertainty about the next move from Trump’s America. China is a much more “what you see is what you get”, stable, reliable trade partner that any country can aspire to have now. There is no need to pay the cost of navigating America’s tariff-punctuated, transactional economic terrain.

The American-dominated world order has been rapidly turning into a system of unilateralism and protection. It is China that has lit the way in championing multilateralism. With World leaders such as Irish Prime Minister Michael Martin, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, and Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo successively paying homage to China since this year began, China has demonstrated its indispensability as a resourceful global economic stability partner. It was therefore not surprising that this would spike tensions with the United States.

With Starmer’s visit, the UK has made a profound diplomatic statement in Beijing. Every country now has to engage China. Isolation would be costly. China is not to be ignored or contained but partnered with. Starmer has acknowledged without stammering that “like it or not, China matters for the UK!” This reflects a pragmatic appreciation of the dynamics of economic interdependence as constituting both vulnerabilities and opportunities that must be carefully negotiated.

Nnanda is a Senior Research Fellow, Development Watch Center.