Labour’s Chinese takeaway

I was thrilled to learn that our government intends to enjoy an ‘open’ relationship with China – one of my favourite countries, as I am sure it is yours. Sir Keir Starmer announced this intention when he bumped into Xi Jinping at the G20 beano in Rio de Janeiro. He also said: ‘We want our relations to be consistent, durable, respectful, as we have agreed, avoid surprises where possible. The UK will be a predictable, consistent, sovereign actor committed to the rule of law.’ Those agreeable adjectives are all Keir’s – I didn’t slip any in, surreptitiously, Not even ‘predictable’, which I assume was there to reinforce the earlier commitment to not surprising the Chinese, perhaps by jumping out from behind a hedge and demanding the return of Hong Kong. It is clear that the Chinese are averse to surprises. By way of reply Xi commended Sir Keir on his economic policy, despite not seemingly knowing what it is. But then one fears that Rachel Reeves is in exactly the same boat.

It is the apogee of the liberal left’s delusion that one should not deal with the world as it is

This was something of a coup for Starmer – first that Xi recognised who he was and second that he was able to be nice to him for a moment. The government knows that its relationship with the leader of the free world, the USA, is about as parlous as it is possible to get and so it will come as some succour to have gained the fleeting approval of the leader of the unfree world. British foreign policy towards China has been, for at least two decades, a little schizoid. We want the crap goods they produce and we very much want them to buy our crap goods. We also approve of their investing in British stuff – so long as it’s not something which might be crucial to our security, such as nuclear power plants.