00:00Amid U.S. President Donald Trump's continued sharp remarks on the United Kingdom's business
00:12ties with China, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has highlighted the economic gains
00:18from his visit to Beijing.
00:22Taking to social media platform X, Starmer said the talks have delivered fresh export
00:28and investment agreements that would benefit people back home in the U.K.
00:34He also pointed to China cutting tariffs on British whiskey by nearly half, calling it
00:39a huge boost for U.K. businesses.
00:58Meanwhile, on January 29th, U.S. President Donald Trump warned the United Kingdom against doing
01:07business with China, calling it very dangerous.
01:10What do you think about the U.K. getting into business with China? Keir Starmer was in Beijing.
01:16It's very dangerous for them to do that.
01:18And it's even more dangerous, I think, for Canada to get into business with China.
01:23Canada is not doing well.
01:24They're doing very poorly.
01:27And you can't look at China as the answer.
01:30I know China very well.
01:31I know President Xi is a friend of mine and now I'm very well.
01:34But that's a big hurdle to go over when you get Canada.
01:38The first thing they're going to do is say, you're not allowed to play ice hockey anymore.
01:42That's not good.
01:43Canada's not going to lie.
01:46P.M. Starmer's remarks came amid a series of high-level engagements during his visit to Beijing.
01:52The British Prime Minister met Chinese President Xi Jinping with both leaders affirming their
01:58commitment to building a long-term and strategic partnership.
02:01Following the meeting, Starmer said in another post on X that growth at home is directly
02:08linked to the U.K.'s engagement with the world's biggest powers.
02:13According to China Daily, President Xi Jinping urged joint research and industrial transformation
02:19with the United Kingdom across key areas, including artificial intelligence, bioscience, and new energy.
02:26While P.M. Starmer's visit signals renewed engagement with China, Al Jazeera noted that
02:33the last visit by a U.K. Prime Minister to Beijing was in 2018 when Theresa May traveled to China.
02:41The report added that relations between London and Beijing have remained strained since the
02:47political crackdown in Hong Kong following months of anti-government protests in 2019.
02:53Al Jazeera further reported another point of contention between the two countries.
02:58The prosecution of Jimmy Lai, the Hong Kong pro-democracy media tycoon, and British citizen.
03:04Against this backdrop, P.M. Starmer told reporters in Beijing that he raised both Lai's case
03:10and China's human rights record during his meeting with President Xi.
03:15Beyond China, the United Kingdom is navigating broader global pressures.
03:20Despite its decades-long relationship with the United States,
03:24the U.K. has not been spared from President Trump's tariff measures.
03:27As a NATO ally, London has also voiced concern after Trump threatened to annex Greenland
03:33and warned of imposing tariffs of up to 25% on countries opposing him.
03:37outside of U.K.
03:39the U.K.
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