Starmer arrives in Beijing to restore fraught relationshipAFP, BEIJINGBritish Prime Minister Keir Starmer yesterday arrived in Beijing to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), hoping to restore long fraught relations. Starmer, who is also expected to visit Shanghai tomorrow, would later make a brief stop in Japan to meet with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, right, receives a bouquet of flowers at an airport in Beijing yesterday, as Chinese Minister of Finance Lan Foan, second left, looks on. Starmer is today to meet with Xi for lunch, followed by a meeting with Chinese Premier Li Qiang (李強). Starmer is the latest Western leader to be hosted by Beijing in the past few months, following visits by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and French President Emmanuel Macron.

Source: Taipei Times January 28, 2026 16:27 UTC