Seeking “more sophisticated” ties with Beijing this week, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer dismissed the idea that he must choose between the United States and China. But he is wrong. America’s allies must choose between the U.S. and its foremost enemy, and it shouldn’t be difficult.
In an interview before his trip, Starmer complained, “I’m often asked to simply choose between countries. I don’t do that. I remember when I was doing the U.S. trade deal, and everybody put it to me that I’d have to make a choice between the U.S. and Europe, and I said, ‘I’m not making that choice.’”
Indecisiveness and flights of fancy are seldom a good look for political leaders, and the world is getting used to it from Starmer, even though it remains a continuous source of irritation for the British themselves. In global politics, Starmer’s weaknesses are outright dangerous. He wants to have his cake and eat it too. It won’t work.
The premier’s comparison of China with Europe is inapt. Britain’s neighbor across the English Channel is nothing like China. Starmer’s hope of carving out a “middle way” between the United States, a longtime democratic ally, and China, a malevolent police state, is doomed to failure and disappointment.
The U.S. remains the preeminent security partner for both the United Kingdom and Europe. American tax dollars and service members have protected both country and continent for decades.
By contrast, Beijing has been fueling Russia’s war in Ukraine, interfering in domestic elections, spying on citizens, stealing billions of dollars’ worth of intellectual property, preparing to conquer Taiwan, and punishing any nation or any person who dares to express a hint of criticism. The Chinese Communist Party is not a force for global good, and it is important for America’s allies, if they want to be regarded as staunch, to be clear that they recognize this. China’s communist government was the greatest mass murdering regime of the 20th century, no small feat in competition with Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin.
America, for all of its faults, remains a dependable economic ally as well. The U.S. does not steal critical research and development or hollow out other nations’ industrial base. China does, time and again. As the COVID-19 crisis illustrated, relying on China for critical goods and trade is asking for trouble.
The U.S. shouldn’t have to plead its case with allies who have spent decades sleeping under the blanket of freedom that this country has provided.
That Washington now needs to remind its allies of the realities vis-à-vis the U.S. and China shows how the strategic picture has changed since the Cold War. The Soviet Union was not an attractive economic model and did not offer any goods or trade worth having or emulating. The Soviets did not make their union the “factory of the world.” On the surface, China offers both an alluring economic model and many goods that people and businesses in the West want. It promises the riches of untapped markets and cheap goods. But these short-term attractions come at a long-term cost.
Starmer’s decision to reach out to Beijing is the latest in a long line of troubling decisions. His government recently approved plans for a “mega China embassy” in the heart of London that will almost certainly be used for spying. He also recently surrendered the Chagos Islands, strategically vital lands in the emerging Sino-American competition. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has also feted Beijing, hailing a “new world order.”
EDITORIAL: INVESTIGATE THE MINNESOTA SHOOTINGS
Cracks in the Anglosphere are emerging and expanding. This is an opportunity for the CCP, but it is also fodder for many Americans increasingly tired of footing defense bills for countries that seem ungrateful.
The Trump administration should be clear: there can be no middle path between the U.S. and its totalitarian rival. Lines must be drawn, and sides must be chosen.