Keir Starmer insisted he was not turning a blind eye to the risks posed by China tonight as he flew out on a major trade mission.
He will on Wednesday become the first prime minister in eight years to visit Beijing in an attempt to bring relations between the two countries out of the ‘ice age’.
Accompanied by a delegation of British business bosses, Sir Keir will hold talks on investment and national security with president Xi Jinping and premier Li Qiang on Thursday.
It comes just a week after the Prime Minister was branded ‘Kowtow Keir’ for allowing China to build a mega-embassy in London, despite fears it will become a base for espionage and the repression of dissidents.
And on Monday it was claimed that Chinese spies had hacked the mobile phones of senior officials in Downing Street for several years.
Sir Keir is also under pressure to raise human rights concerns with the leaders of the Communist superpower, including the plight of jailed British citizen and democracy activist Jimmy Lai.
Another matter likely to be high on his agenda is ensuring Chinese company Jingye pays for decommissioning a Scunthorpe steelworks which the UK now controls.
Before embarking on his trip last night, No 10 claimed the Prime Minister was ‘clear-eyed and realistic’ about the challenges posed by China, as well as the opportunities.
Sir Keir Starmer will become the first Prime Minister in eight years to visit Beijing
He and his delegation will hold a meeting with president Xi Jinping and premier Li Qiang (left)
Sir Keir added: ‘For years, our approach to China has been dogged by inconsistency – blowing hot and cold, from Golden Age to Ice Age. But, like it or not, China matters for the UK.
‘As one of the world’s biggest economic players, a strategic and consistent relationship with them is firmly in our national interest.
‘That does not mean turning a blind eye to the challenges they pose, but engaging even where we disagree.’
Earlier on Tuesday, Housing Secretary Steve Reed denied the trip depended on him approving the embassy’s planning application, adding: ‘We have to trade with China, but we do it [with our] eyes wide open. National security is always paramount, as it should be.’
Downing Street pointed out that, as well as being the world’s second-largest economy, China is the UK’s third-largest trading partner and supports 370,000 jobs.
Along with Business Secretary Peter Kyle and Treasury minister Lucy Rigby, on the flight were representatives of some of the UK’s biggest firms – including GSK and Jaguar Land Rover.
After the political talks, the delegation will travel to Shanghai for meetings with British and Chinese businesses. This will be followed by a final stop in Tokyo where Sir Keir will meet Japan’s first female prime minister, Sanae Takaichi.
Meanwhile, in an interview on the eve of the trip, Sir Keir insisted he could pursue a better trading relationship with China without upsetting Donald Trump.
He told Bloomberg: ‘I’m often invited to simply choose between countries. I don’t do that.’
But Luke de Pulford, of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, predicted the Prime Minister would come away with little from the visit.
He asked: ‘What will we have conceded to be able to brandish a handful of what will amount to little more than a few IOUs?
‘Will we have secured the release of British citizen Jimmy Lai? Will we have raised atrocities against Uyghurs, which Labour said in opposition was “genocide”? Will we have raised the fact that Xi could end the war in Europe tomorrow if he wanted?’
