Why Labour is cosying up to China

It used to be said that parties were Eurosceptic in opposition but Europhile in government. The same might be true of China too. Under Keir Starmer’s leadership, Labour initially adopted a Sinosceptic stance, strongly condemning the Hong Kong crackdown and promising to recognise China’s treatment of the Uyghurs as genocide.

Yet in office, they have abandoned such postures and instead sent various ministers out East. The latest to go and tout for trade is Rachel Reeves, in her never-ending quest for growth. For the first time in five years, the Chancellor will hold an Economic and Financial Dialogue between China and the UK tomorrow in Beijing. Accompanied by Andrew Bailey, the Governor of the Bank of England, Reeves and a dozen financial services chiefs will then visit Shanghai this Sunday. 

There are two problems with Reeves’s China jaunt. The first is why talks are resuming now, ahead of the government’s much-vaunted ‘China audit’. The second is how much of an economic yield we can really expect, given how little benefit Germany – which spent a decade pursing business-über-alles with Beijing – seems to have gained.