Kemi Badenoch yesterday criticised Sir Keir Starmer‘s ‘supine’ and ‘short-termist’ approach to China after he returned from his knee-bending trip to Beijing.
The Tory leader laughed as she said his recent visit to China ‘looked like a dream come true’ for a man who was ‘virtually a Communist all his life’ in a heated exchange in the Commons chamber.
The Prime Minister used an address to MPs to promote his approach to dealing with China – which stands accused of espionage against parliamentarians, cyber warfare against British institutions and of human rights abuses against its own people.
He insisted the Government is ‘clear-eyed about the threats from China’ and that in engaging with president Xi Jinping yet guarding UK national security, it can ‘do two things at once’.
The first British leader to visit China in eight years, Sir Keir added that the Conservatives had presided over ‘eight years of missed opportunities’.
But Mrs Badenoch tore into the Prime Minister for returning from China with ‘next to nothing’, saying the Labour leader had been ‘played’ by Xi.
She told the Commons: ‘It is not the PM engaging with China we take issue with. What we are criticising is his supine and short-termist approach.
‘I’m sure the Prime Minister means well, but his negotiating tactic has always been to give everything away in the hope people will be nice to him in return.’
Kemi Badenoch, pictured in the House of Commons, yesterday criticised Sir Keir Starmer’s ‘supine’ and ‘short-termist’ approach to China after he returned from his trip to Beijing
The Prime Minister pictured with Shanghai Party Secretary Chen Jining on Saturday. The Tory leader laughed as she said his recent visit to China ‘looked like a dream come true’ for a man who was ‘virtually a Communist all his life’
Drawing laughter from her backbenches, she added: ‘The Prime Minister looked like he enjoyed his trip. In fact it looked like a dream come true to a man who was virtually a Communist all his life.’
Having hyped up the benefits the trip to Beijing would bring for Britain before he left, Sir Keir returned with only a halving of tariffs on whisky exports, plus the end of visas for tourists and businesses on short visits to China.
The PM was also mocked by the Opposition benches when he boasted of an agreement for ‘closer dialogue on cyber issues’, given Beijing is seen as one of the main hostile state actors in this area.
But Mrs Badenoch said the ‘worst’ aspect of Sir Keir’s visit to China had been the Prime Minister ‘claiming a glorious triumph’ in seeing sanctions lifted on four MPs. Nine UK citizens were banned from China in 2021, including five Conservative MPs and two members of the House of Lords – targeted for highlighting human rights violations against the Muslim Uyghur community.
The Tory leader said: ‘Let me tell him: Those MPs were sanctioned because they stood up to China.
‘They stood up against human rights abuses, they stood up against a country spying on our MPs in a way he wouldn’t dare.’
Sir Keir said China had ‘made clear’ that restrictions on all parliamentarians had been lifted, but last night those sanctioned said they have still not received proof this is the case.
They have now requested a meeting with the PM. The Daily Mail understands sanctioned parliamentarians met with Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle on Monday to press for a ban on the Chinese ambassador to remain in place.
Sir Lindsay barred the ambassador, Zheng Zeguang, from entering Parliament in 2021 after China imposed sanctions on MPs.
But No 10 has sparked outrage by opening the door to president Xi visiting the UK again. He last came to Britain a decade ago under David Cameron’s ‘golden era’ of close relations between the countries.
