Keir Starmer, the British prime minister, arriving in Beijing, China, on January 28, 2026. CARL COURT/AFPWeek after week in Beijing, leaders of middle powers allied with the US have made back-to-back visits there, to strengthen their countries' ties with China, at a time when their relationships with the Trump administration have continually deteriorated. On Thursday, January 29, it was British Prime Minister Keir Starmer's turn to take part in these proceedings, in the first visit to China by a British prime minister since Theresa May in 2018, before Beijing's harsh clampdown on Hong Kong and the Covid-19 pandemic years. Starmer has clearly stated his desire to revive the United Kingdom's relations with China, though without the naïveté that characterized an earlier rapprochement under David Cameron. To this day, Osborne remains the only high-level European politician to have taken part in such a public display.