Beth Rigby: Between erratic Trump and Labour unrest, Xi may not look so bad for Starmer
Sir Keir Starmer was at pains not to pre-empt any difficult conversations ahead of his high-stakes meeting with Xi Jinping, as he faced questions from journalists on the plane over to Beijing.
Wednesday 28 January 2026 07:09, UK
Be it Andy Burnham or Chinese President Xi Jinping, the prime minister was being extremely careful with his language on both the home and international front as he made his way over to Beijing for a five-day tour of China and Japan.
When it came to the Chinese president, Sir Keir Starmer was a leader who knew that difficult conversations lay ahead but was at pains not to pre-empt any of that ahead of the first bilateral meeting in China between a UK prime minister and Chinese president in eight years.
So when it came to questions about raising human rights issues - specifically the plight of the Uyghurs and the imprisonment of British pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai - with the Chinese leader, Starmer said on both matters he was "not going to get ahead of himself".
He said only that there were concerns the government had raised in a number of ways, and told us he would give a readout once those meetings were had.
Read more from Paste BN: Who is Jimmy Lai?
It was the same on the matter of Ukraine, as the prime minister was pressed on whether he would ask Xi to put pressure on Vladimir Putin to end the war.
"In relation to what I'll raise on this visit, obviously, I'm not going to get ahead of myself," he said.
"You know my practice, which is to raise issues that need to be raised.
"But I'm not going to go into specific sensitive issues on the way out."
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Burnham 'doing an excellent job'
As for the Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham - well, the prime minister was as circumspect on that as he was when it came to the matter of dealing with the Chinese.
Sir Keir insisted Burnham hadn't been told in advance that he wouldn't be accepted as the candidate for Gorton and Denton, after reports that Burnham had been warned off but persisted in the application anyway.
"I know who was talking to Andy on Saturday, and that wasn't said. That's Andy's position as well," said the PM.
He also said he had spoken to Burnham yesterday as he heaped praise on his colleague, talking about getting "tricky legislation" through parliament with him in 2015 and working together in the aftermath of the horrendous synagogue attack in Manchester and on the Northern Powerhouse Rail project.
"He's doing an excellent job, he did an excellent job when he was in parliament," Starmer told the press pack.
But when it came to the matter of whether he'd welcome Burnham back to parliament, the prime minister was more circumspect:
"As to what he wants to do when he's not mayor of Manchester any more, that's a matter for Andy, but he's doing a first class job," he said.
That is hardly a ringing endorsement of wanting the mayor back in parliament, but it was clearly an effort by the prime minister, as he had done on Monday in the wake of Burnham being blocked for the Gorton and Denton by-election, to take the temperature back down after a fiery few days.
Now, as he lands 5,000 miles away in Beijing, he trades one diplomatic minefield for another, as the prime minister on the one hand tries to drum up trade and deepen economic ties with China, while also raising a series of thorny issues when it comes to human rights, international alliances and national security.
Read more:
What's on the table in PM-Xi talks?
Why trip carries real consequence - including at home
'I'm a pragmatist'
When asked about Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney's view that it was time for middle powers to unite and push back, Starmer said: "I'm a pragmatist, a British pragmatist applying common sense."
That means trying to navigate a path that accommodates the US and China, or to maintain ties with Washington and Brussels even when allies seem at odds.
It also means trying to accommodate those in the Labour Party and his cabinet challenging his spot.
Between Donald Trump's erratic behaviour and the unreconcilables back home, navigating matters with Xi doesn't, perhaps, look so bad.