Don't be pathetic!

PM warned he must stand up to China during his visit

- BY MARTYN BROWN Political Editor

Sir Keir Starmer with Xi Jinping in 2024

SIR Keir Starmer must stand up to China’s Communist regime or risk looking “pathetic” on the global stage, Lord Patten has warned.

The former Hong Kong governor said the PM should say “exactly what he thinks” when he meets Chinese leader Xi Jinping tomorrow.

His demand comes as Sir Keir begins a high-stakes three-day visit to the country — the first visit by a UK PM since Theresa May in 2018.

Lord Patten said the Prime Minister should not “lean over backwards” to avoid offending China, adding: “The Chinese do business on exactly the same basis as everybody else.”

And former security minister Tom Tugendhat told the Express: “The Chinese don’t respond to weakness. They respond to strength. Showing a bit of steel and standing up to Beijing will produce far more than kowtowing in the hope of scraps and morsels.”