BEIJING: China accused Britain’s Keir Starmer of making “groundless accusations” on Tuesday (Dec 2), a day after the prime minister said he would engage with Beijing but warned China posed a national security threat.
Despite attempts by the British government to reset ties with the world’s second-largest economy, relations have remained strained by accusations of spying and tensions over the fate of Hong Kong, a former British colony.
Starmer became the first British prime minister to meet Chinese leader Xi Jinping in over six years in November 2024, a sign that relations were improving.
But speaking at the annual Lady Mayor’s Banquet on Monday, Starmer said China “poses real national security threats”, and said London would continue to raise human rights issues with Beijing.
On Tuesday, the Chinese embassy in London said it “firmly opposes the British side’s remarks … that groundlessly accuse China and interfere in its internal affairs”.
“China’s development poses no threat to any nation,” it said in a statement, adding that Starmer’s remarks were “erroneous”.
Starmer promised on Monday that his country’s China policy would no longer blow “hot and cold”.
Describing the failure to have a relationship with China as a “dereliction of duty”, he called for a “serious approach”.
“You can work and trade with a country … while still protecting yourself,” the prime minister said.
He said he would seek to engage with China on trade, nuclear proliferation, AI, climate change and other issues – but also vowed to give security services updated powers and tools to deter what he said was the security threat posed by Beijing.
Source: CNA
