President Donald Trump warned British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer that doing business with China will be “very dangerous” for the UK.
“Well, it’s very dangerous for them to do that,” the president told reporters at the world premiere for the new Melania documentary on Thursday night.
Trump issued the remarks answering to a reporter that asked for comment on the UK getting into business with China. The BBC reports owning Street, in response to Trump’s remarks, indicated “Washington had been aware of this trip and its objectives in advance.”
Starmer landed in Beijing earlier this week for a multi-day official agenda that saw him meet with Chinese communist dictator Xi Jinping on Thurday — during which he told Xi that he wants the United Kingdom to build a “sophisticated relationship” with the Asian nation.
According to the Chinese state-owned Global Times, Xi said that he believes Starmer’s visit “will be a success and the cooperation between the two countries will ‘Yi Ma Dang Xian,’ which literally means ‘a horse charging ahead’ or is commonly used to mean ‘taking the lead.'”
Shortly after meeting with Xi, Starmer explained to reporters that China agreed to grant visa-free travel and reductions in whiskey tariffs, in addition to other subjects.
On Friday, Global Times published a clip of Starmer emphasizing his intention to build a “consistent, long-term, comprehensive, and strategic” relationship with China at the closing ceremony of a U.K.-China business meeting in Beijing.
The Chinese state-owned outlet announced in a social media post that Starmer arrived in Shanghai on Friday morning.
The Guardian reported that British Trade Minister Sir Chris Bryant told the BBC that President Trump is “wrong” in his remarks.
“Yes, he is wrong, and I say this precisely because, apart from anything else, he himself said in his own statement that he is a friend with President Xi, and as I understand it, President Trump is going to China himself in April,” Bryant reportedly said.
Starmer is scheduled to depart from Shanghai in the coming hours and will head towards Japan for a meeting and working dinner with Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.
In addition to warning the U.K. on the dangers of engaging in business with China, President Trump stressed that it is “even more dangerous” for Canada to get into business with China.
“Canada is not doing well. They’re doing very poorly, and you can’t look at China as the answer,” President Trump said at the Melania documentary premiere.
“I know China very well. I know President Xi is a friend of mine. I know him very well. But that’s a big hurdle to go over when you get Canada The first thing they’re going to do is say you’re not allowed to play ice hockey anymore. That’s not good,” he continued.
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