Last night, The New York Times reported: "UK Prime Minister Starmer is planning to visit China in early January next year. If this trip takes place, it will be the first visit by a British prime minister to China since Theresa May's visit in 2018, meaning that it has been seven years since a UK prime minister last visited China. The itinerary has not yet been officially confirmed. Since taking office, Starmer has been working hard to improve Sino-British relations. High-ranking officials such as the UK Chancellor have frequently visited China and restarted relevant cooperation mechanisms, paving the way for this. China is the fifth largest trading partner of the UK, with bilateral trade reaching nearly £100 billion. After Brexit, the UK's economy has been weak, and it hopes to attract investment and promote economic growth through this. However, there are still divisions within the UK regarding security risks related to China."
[Witty] The seven-year plan for the visit to China is essentially a practical self-rescue for the UK after Brexit. With nearly £100 billion in trade volume and 500,000 related jobs, not engaging with China is no longer an option but a real necessity. However, on one hand, they send high-level officials to pave the way for cooperation, and on the other hand, they create noise by hyping up espionage and security risks. This split approach of economic desire and political smear reveals their awkward mindset of wanting to benefit from China's prosperity while still being unable to shake off Western prejudices against China. If Starmer really wants to break the deadlock, he must first abandon double standards - without mutual respect, cooperation is just an illusion. A wavering China policy will ultimately fail to bring stable development opportunities!
Original article: www.toutiao.com/article/1849327136355331/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author.