LONDON: Prime Minister Keir Starmer warned on Monday that China posed “national security threats” to Britain, but defended his government’s decision to step up engagement with the country, saying closer business ties were in the national interest.
Starmer’s Labour government has made improved relations with China one of its foreign policy priorities, but relations between the two countries have been strained by British accusations of spying by Beijing.
In one of his clearest attempts to explain his approach to China, Starmer said in a speech to business leaders in London’s historic financial district that Britain’s relationship with China had for too long “blown hot and cold.”
Britain has made major shifts in its approach toward China in the past decade, moving from saying it wanted to be China’s greatest supporter in Europe in the so-called “golden era” of relations to then being one of its fiercest critics.
“It’s time for a serious approach, to reject the simplistic binary choice, neither golden age nor ice age, and recognize the plain fact that you can work and trade with a country while still protecting yourself,” Starmer said.
