Global & US Headlines
Starmer Clinches Whisky Tariff Cut and Visa-Free Entry in First UK–China Summit Since 2018
On 30 Jan 2026, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer secured 30-day visa-free travel for Britons and halved Scotch whisky duties to 5% during a Beijing visit, even as U.S. President Donald Trump warned the outreach was “very dangerous.”
Focusing Facts
- China cut import tariffs on Scotch whisky from 10% to 5% in an agreement announced during Starmer’s trip.
- Beijing granted visa-free entry of up to 30 days for UK passport holders, to start later in 2026.
- Starmer’s 50-strong business delegation coincided with AstraZeneca unveiling a US$15 billion expansion plan inside China.
Context
Middle-tier powers juggling great-power friction is hardly new: Britain’s 1902 Anglo-Japanese Alliance and France’s 1963 ‘Gaullist’ NATO rift each tried to hedge when a dominant partner grew unpredictable. Today’s reprise sees allies rattled by a second-term Trump swinging tariffs like a cudgel, nudging them toward China even as Beijing’s own mercantilism limits real gains. The Starmer-Xi handshake fits a 20-year trend of situational “minilateralism”—small transactional deals amid fragmenting global order—yet the structural forces (China’s $1.2 trn surplus, U.S. security umbrella, and rising techno-nationalism) remain unaltered. In a 100-year lens, the visit may matter less for its modest trade concessions than as another data point in the slow erosion of unquestioned Atlantic primacy and the testing of whether mid-sized economies can chart autonomous paths between two rival hegemons.
Perspectives
Chinese and China-friendly business media
e.g., Caixin Global, eNCAnews — Celebrate Starmer’s trip as “real progress,” trumpeting lower whisky tariffs, visa-free travel and a diplomatic reset that proves mutually beneficial economic cooperation is still possible despite geopolitical tension (2026-01-965748825, 9067129265). These outlets echo Beijing’s ‘win-win’ narrative, glossing over human-rights rows and the structural trade imbalance highlighted elsewhere, because maintaining an upbeat image of doing business with China serves both Chinese soft-power goals and their own access to officials and markets.
Western financial press sceptical of a “China pivot”
e.g., Reuters, City A.M. — Warn that Starmer’s visit delivers only cosmetic deals and underscores how middle powers remain vulnerable to China’s export juggernaut while handing Beijing a propaganda coup (2026-01-965739387, 2026-01-965784156). By stressing risks and minimal gains, these outlets cater to readers anxious about economic security and may downplay potential diplomatic value, reinforcing a narrative that engagement is futile without confronting China’s trade practices.
Trump-aligned nationalist rhetoric carried in international coverage
quotes featured in The Times of India, Business Standard — Frames Britain (and especially Canada) deepening trade with Beijing as “very dangerous,” threatening 100 % tariffs and depicting China as a perilous alternative to U.S. leadership (9067111654, 2026-01-965730824). The hard-line warnings serve U.S. protectionist and electoral interests—leveraging fear to keep allies economically dependent on Washington—yet the articles offer scant evidence beyond the president’s own statements.