Starmer brushes off Trump’s criticism of ‘dangerous’ relationship with China

Sir Keir Starmer has brushed off comments by Donald Trump warning it was “dangerous” for the UK to do business with China, saying the president was “talking more about Canada”.

Mr Trump expressed disapproval of the Prime Minister’s trip to China in remarks to reporters early on Friday.

“Well, it’s very dangerous for them to do that, and it’s even more dangerous, I think, for Canada to get into business with China,” he said.

He added that Canada was doing “poorly” and said “you can’t look at China as the answer”.

But in broadcast interviews in Shanghai, Sir Keir said his visit had been “very successful”.

He told Sky News: “I’ve seen President Trump’s comments.

“I think, to be fair, he was probably talking more about Canada than the United Kingdom.”

Adding that the US and UK remained “very close allies”, he said his visit to China had been discussed with Mr Trump’s team beforehand and pointed to the president’s upcoming visit to the country in April.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney visited China earlier in January as the two countries sought closer economic ties, reaching a preliminary agreement to cut tariffs on selected goods.

Despite initially making positive comments about the deal, Mr Trump later threatened Canada with a 100% tariff on exports if Ottawa entered into a free trade agreement with China, but Mr Carney denied any such plans.

His threat followed the row over his demand to annex Greenland, which saw Mr Carney give a speech at the World Economic Forum widely regarded as a rebuke to Mr Trump.

Ahead of his trip, Sir Keir told Bloomberg he would not choose between Washington and Beijing: “I’m often invited to simply choose between countries. I don’t do that,” he said.

The US President’s comments came ahead of Sir Keir’s arrival in Shanghai, a massive financial hub, for the next leg of his trip.

After touching down in the city, Sir Keir met Chinese design students before delivering remarks at a showcase of British brands at a venue on Shanghai’s bund.

The PM’s visit to Shanghai, China’s biggest city, caps a trip during which the Prime Minister’s political opponents accused him of “kowtowing” to President Xi Jinping.

But Sir Keir has stressed both the financial benefits of an improved relationship with China and the impact of engaging with Beijing on areas of disagreement, saying he his talks with Mr Xi had yielded the lifting of Chinese sanctions on British parliamentarians.

Under deals agreed on the visit, tariffs on Scotch whisky are set to be halved to 5% and UK citizens visiting China for fewer than 30 days will no longer need a visa.

Elsewhere, Octopus Energy Group, the UK’s largest energy supplier, has announced it will start a new joint venture with China’s PCG Power, aimed at trading renewable energy in China.

No 10 has also left the door open to a future visit to the UK by Mr Xi, whose last state visit to Britain was in October 2015.

Sir Keir told GB News he hoped Mr Xi would attend next year’s G20 summit, which is being hosted by the UK.

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said Labour had “given China everything they want” for “absolutely nothing in return.”

“Starmer’s visit to China was not in our national interest.

“He has gone there pretty much with a begging bowl, got pretty much nothing back,” she said.

“Of course, we trade with China, but what he has done has, in my view, weakened the UK in the eyes of China, and it was wrong for him to go.”

She also cast doubt on the lifting of Chinese sanctions on UK parliamentarians, suggesting the move had been done to pave the way for Mr Xi to visit the UK Parliament.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if sanctions go back after that… we need to stop being naive and think that if we go on a visit and then they lift sanctions, everything is fine,” Mrs Badenoch said.