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By Shane Croucher
Senior Editor
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Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered a veiled swipe at U.S. President Donald Trump during a visit to Beijing by the British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who is attempting a major reset in relations with China.
According to a readout from Mao Ning, spokeswoman for the Chinese foreign ministry, Xi told Starmer during their meeting that "unilateralism, protectionism and power politics are running rampant."
"The international order is under great strain," Xi said, per Mao, and "international law can be truly effective only when all countries abide by it. Major countries in particular should set an example, otherwise the world will revert to the law of the jungle."
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Trump has upended the world order and is pulling the U.S. back from multilateral institutions, instead using hard American power to achieve his administration's goals, as seen by the dramatic military raid to seize Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro from Caracas, his aggressive pursuit of Greenland from NATO ally Denmark, and punitive import tariffs as a negotiating tool.
Traditional U.S. allies, questioning the reliability of their future partnerships with Washington, have responded in part by seeking to heal and deepen ties with China, America's great power rival. The U.K. is the latest in a series of visits by U.S. allies to Beijing, including Canada and France. The European Union has also emphasized the need to build greater ties to China.
China is the second-largest economy on the planet and long seen as "the world's factory" due to its massive export-driven manufacturing sector. But its economic ascent and rapidly growing middle class also offer a lucrative opportunity for Western exporters in search of demand.
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Moreover, European NATO allies are hoping to persuade China to apply greater pressure on Russia, its junior partner in a growing strategic relationship, to end the war in Ukraine. Beijing has helped to prop up Russia's sanctions-hit war economy through large-scale oil purchases. They also hope to deter a Chinese invasion of Taiwan.
But China is an authoritarian and repressive state, one Western allies say is increasingly engaged in spying and cyberattacks against them, and which has sought economic advantage by stealing intellectual property from their companies, as well as other unfair trade practices, such as dumping. Critics of closer ties with China say these threats will only grow.
"Both China and the U.K. support multilateralism and free trade," Xi told Starmer, per Mao. "We should jointly advocate and practice true multilateralism, make the global governance system more just and equitable, and work to build an equal and orderly multipolar world and a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization."
Starmer has rejected the idea that the U.K. must choose between the U.S. and China, and both leaders called for a "comprehensive strategic partnership" between London and Beijing.
But in Canada's case, Trump threatened to slap a 100 percent tariff on goods from its northern neighbor if it pursued a trade deal with China, following a visit to Beijing by Prime Minister Mark Carney, where he also spoke of a "strategic partnership" with Xi. Carney later clarified that Canada would not seek a free trade deal with China without properly notifying the U.S.
"If Governor Carney thinks he is going to make Canada a 'Drop Off Port' for China to send goods and products into the United States, he is sorely mistaken," Trump wrote on Truth Social, using the wrong title for Carney, likely a reference to the U.S. president's past suggestion that Canada should become the 51st state.
"China will eat Canada alive, completely devour it, including the destruction of their businesses, social fabric, and general way of life."
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