𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Keir Starmer must stand up to China’s Communist regime or risk looking “pathetic” on the global stage, Lord Patten has warned. The former Hong Kong governor said the Prime Minister should say “exactly what he thinks” when he meets Chinese leaders. His demand comes as Sir Keir begins a high-stakes three-day visit to the economic superpower – the first visit by a UK Prime Minister since Theresa May in 2018.

The trip follows the approval of a controversial new Chinese embassy in London and the Prime Minister is due to be accompanied by almost 60 business leaders – including from HSBC, GSK, Jaguar Land Rover and the National Theatre – as he seeks to improve relations with the Asian superpower. The PM is confident he can pursue trade deals with China without upsetting US President Donald Trump. But his attempts to cosy-up to Beijing is fraught with multiple diplomatic minefields.

Critics have accused him of “Kowtowing” to President Xi.

Sir Keir is also facing pressure from home to raise several difficult subjects with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, including China’s espionage activity, the treatment of the Uighur minority and the imprisonment of Jimmy Lai, a Hong Kong pro-democracy campaigner and British national.

Mr Lai, 78, has been in detention for more than five years, much of that time in solitary confinement, having been arrested in 2020 under Hong Kong’s new national security law.

Lord Chris Patten said the Prime Minister should not “lean over backwards” to avoid offending China, adding: “The Chinese do business on exactly the same basis as everybody else.”

He said British policy towards China rested on “a complete falsehood” that “in order to do business with them, we must avoid saying anything they don’t like or doing anything that they don’t like”.

He said: “That is just complete bilge.”

Lord Patten, who governed Hong Kong from 1992 until it was handed over to China in 1997, said Mr Lai’s case should be “one of the first things” Sir Keir raises with the Chinese government during his visit.

“If he doesn’t raise the Jimmy Lai case, he’s been pathetic,” he said.

Ministers have previously condemned the Chinese government for its treatment of Mr Lai.

Last month, following Mr Lai’s conviction on sedition and conspiracy charges, Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper called for his “immediate release” and the Chinese ambassador was summoned to the Foreign Office.

Former Security minister Tom Tugendhat told the Express: “The Chinese don’t respond to weakness. They respond to strength.
“I suspect the Prime Minister will find that showing a bit of steel and standing up to Beijing will produce far more than kowtowing in the hope of scraps and morsels.

“I hope he comes back with genuine concessions on Jimmy Lai, on China’s repeated hostile interference in our democracy and on the aggressive campaign of cyber espionage that China is currently waging against our businesses and institutions.”

Ahead of arriving in the Chinese capital Sir Keir said: “For years, our approach to China has been dogged by inconsistency – blowing hot and cold, from Golden Age to Ice Age. But like it or not, China matters for the UK.

“As one of the world’s biggest economic players, a strategic and consistent relationship with them is firmly in our national interest. That does not mean turning a blind eye to the challenges they pose – but engaging even where we disagree.

“This is what our allies do, and what I will do: delivering for the public, putting more money in their pockets and keeping them safe through pragmatic, consistent co-operation abroad.”

The Prime Minister will meet President Xi and Premier Li Qiang in Beijing on Thursday for talks on trade, investment and national security, before travelling to Shanghai.

Following his trip to China, the Prime Minister will travel to Tokyo to meet with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.