Starmer met Chinese premier at G20 amid Beijing trip rumours

Sir Keir Starmer spoke with Chinese premier Li Qiang at the G20 summit last week amid speculation that he could visit Beijing early next year and the country’s controversial embassy in London will be approved.

The two leaders are understood to have greeted each other only briefly during a “brush-by” rather than holding formal bilateral talks, after which a readout covering what was discussed would usually be expected from Downing Street.

China was represented by premier Mr Li rather than president Xi Jinping at the meeting in Johannesburg, South Africa, last week.

It comes after the Prime Minister vowed he would “robustly” protect the UK’s national interests amid questions about the Government’s continued engagement with China.

Asked last week if he would visit the country, Sir Keir said no visit had been confirmed yet, while officials refused to comment on speculation about a planned Chinese “mega embassy” near the Tower of London.

“Our approach is the same approach as we’ve always taken, which is co-operate where we can and challenge where we must, particularly on national security,” he said.

“You saw that this week, in relation to espionage, we had a statement in the House setting out the action the Government is taking along with MI5 because we will always robustly protect our interests.”

MI5 issued an alert to parliamentarians about the activities of two head-hunters, Amanda Qiu and Shirly Shen, who are both said to be using LinkedIn profiles to reach out on behalf of China’s ministry of state security.

The intelligence agencies believe China is attempting to recruit and groom individuals with access to sensitive information about Parliament and the UK Government, often masked through cover companies and head-hunters.

Critics fear the proposed new building, on a huge site close to the City of London and crucial data cables, will be used as a base for espionage.

A decision on whether to approve the embassy will be made by Steve Reed’s Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government after a quasi-judicial process expected to end on December 10.

In October, MI5’s chief Sir Ken McCallum said the agency had “more than a century of experience of dealing with the national security risks which do flow from the presence of foreign embassies on British soil”.