Starmer in Rio de Janeiro for G20 summit and is set to become first UK PM to meet Chinese president in six years
Keir Starmer will go into meeting with Chinese president with ‘eyes wide open’, says minister
Good morning. Keir Starmer is in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil for the G20 summit, where later today he will become the first UK prime minister in six years to meet the Chinese president, Xi Jinping. As Jessica Elgot reports, Starmer says he wants “a pragmatic and serious relationship” with China.
But, inevitably, not everyone is happy. The Daily Mail is splashing on criticism of the meeting from some Tories. When David Cameron was PM, he cultivated Xi with an eagerness and enthusiasm that makes Starmer look quite hostile towards China by comparison, but over the past decade Tory thinking about China has changed considerably, and the Mail story quotes Sir Iain Duncan Smith, the former leader, saying “those suffering genocide and slave labour under the brutal hands of Xi will feel betrayed.”
Daily Mail: Anger as Starmer cosies up to China #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/4pB8g5wP30— George Mann (@sgfmann) November 18, 2024
Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, has been doing an interview round this morning. Speaking on Sky News, she defended Starmer’s decision to meet Xi.
