PTI
Beijing/London
Chinese President Xi Jinping and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Thursday agreed to develop a long-term, stable comprehensive strategic partnership, in a rebuff to US President Donald Trump’s unpredictable policies
and tariff threats.
During their 80-minute meeting in the Great Hall of the People, watched keenly in Washington, Xi said that the international order has for some time suffered serious disruption, in a veiled attack on Trump’s unpredictable policies.
International law can only be truly effective when all countries, major countries in particular, abide by it. Otherwise, the world would risk regressing to the law of the jungle, he told Starmer, without mentioning the US.
In an apparent reference to Trump’s military action against Venezuela and threats to take over Greenland, which is opposed by Britain, Xi said China will never pose a threat to other countries, no matter how it grows and develops.
Starmer, the first British PM to visit China in eight years, described the meeting with Xi as “productive” and said there were “real concrete outcomes”, adding that the UK’s relationship with China is in a “good place, a strong place”.
He said that the delegations made progress on tariffs for whisky, as well as the idea of visa-free travel to China, and on information exchange on “irregular migration” and small boats.
“Organised immigration crime and the business model of the smuggling gangs goes beyond borders, and our approach to shut them down must do the same,” said Starmer.
According to official UK government statistics, more than 60 per cent of all engines used by smuggling gangs
last year were found to be branded as Chinese-manufactured engines.
Inflatable dinghies used in small boat crossings across the English Channel, often made using parts sourced in China, have been enabling gangs to pack ever larger numbers onto single vessels, with recent crossings carrying over 100 people in increasingly life-threatening conditions, Downing
Street said.
Under the new border security agreement, UK law enforcement agencies are expected to work with Chinese authorities to prevent small boat engines and equipment used in Channel crossings getting into the hands of criminal gangs. It includes intelligence sharing to identify smugglers’ supply routes and direct engagement with Chinese manufacturers to prevent legitimate businesses from being exploited by organised crime.
Both countries are said to have also agreed to “scale up” removals of those with no right to be in the UK and intensify a crackdown on Chinese gangs producing synthetic opioids.
Both leaders affirmed their shared commitment to building a consistent, long-term, and strategic partnership that will benefit both countries, Downing Street said.
