‘I ALWAYS act in the national interest!’ | Starmer outlines 'concrete outcomes' from China trip скачать в хорошем качестве

‘I ALWAYS act in the national interest!’ | Starmer outlines 'concrete outcomes' from China trip

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said his meeting with China’s President Xi Jinping on Thursday was “very productive”, adding that they made progress on tariffs for whisky, visa-free travel to China and information exchange on “irregular migration”. "A lot of the discussion was about how we open up access for those opportunities, focusing, as I always do, on how is this going to be delivered back in the United Kingdom, how does it benefit people back at home," Starmer said. “A very good constructive meeting with real outcomes and that's very much in our national interest." Starmer spoke outside the Forbidden City - an imperial palace and Unesco World Heritage Site in Beijing - of which he was given a tour. Earlier, the two leaders met in the Great Hall of the People in central Beijing as their nations try to improve relations after several years of acrimony. Relations have deteriorated over allegations of Chinese spying in Great Britain, China’s support for Russia in the Ukraine war, and the crackdown on freedoms in Hong Kong, the former British colony that was returned to China in 1997. Starmer is the first British prime minister to visit in eight years. The UK leader said he would protect national security while keeping up diplomatic dialogue and economic cooperation with China. When asked about democracy advocate Jimmy Lai and the treatment of Uyghurs in the Xinjing region, Starmer said they had a “respectful discussion” about it. “We raised those issues, as you would expect. Part of the rationale for engagement is to make sure that we can both seize the opportunities that are available, which is what we've done, but also have a mature discussion about issues that we disagree on.” In 2022, the United Nations accused China of rights violations it said might amount to crimes against humanity in Xinjiang, where Beijing also faces allegations of forced labor, forced sterilizations and family separations as part of a broader assimilation campaign. The Chinese government maintains its policies in Xinjiang rooted out terrorism and religious extremism after sporadic bouts of violence rocked the region in previous decades. And in December 2025, onetime-media magnate Jimmy Lai was found guilty of conspiring with others to collude with foreign forces and conspiracy to publish seditious articles. His conviction raised concerns about the curtailing of press freedom in Hong Kong, a former British colony which returned to Chinese rule in 1997. Separately, Starmer commented on US President Donald Trump’s shakeup of global relations in Iran, saying he wants to ensure Iran does not attain a nuclear programme. “We (Trump and Starmer) all agree that ensuring that Iran doesn't get that nuclear programme is a number one priority and that's what we're working on,” he said. Continue reading at Manchester Evening News: Keir Starmer tells China's Xi Jinping that UK seeking 'more sophisticated' relationship with China https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.... LIKE | COMMENT | SUBSCRIBE | SHARE #china #keirstarmer #XiJinping