When Donald Trump was given a tour around one of China‘s most revered cultural sites, Xi Jinping rolled out the red carpet and shut it down for a private tour.
But nearly a decade later, Sir Keir Starmer had to make do with a single visitor guide to see Beijing‘s world-famous Forbidden City as it remained open for tourists.
The Prime Minister was shown around the ancient imperial palace by a man who pointed out elements of interest while onlookers took photographs of them.
The disparity was highlighted as critics claimed Sir Keir will leave China virtually empty-handed with only warm words and marginal deals despite his kowtowing.
The Labour leader flew 5,000 miles with the promise of ‘history-making’ talks with President Xi – but is now returning to Britain with only a halving of tariffs on whisky exports, plus the end of visas for tourists and businesses on short visits to China.
Sir Keir failed to secure a commitment for the release of UK activist Jimmy Lai, or the lifting of sanctions on MPs who spoke out against China’s human rights abuses.
Back in 2017, President Xi visited Mr Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida in April – and six months later hosted him in Beijing with a dinner at the Forbidden City.
President Trump got the red carpet treatment on his three-day state visit, beginning with a tour of the palace from President Xi before having afternoon tea together.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer during a tour of the Forbidden City in Beijing yesterday
Sir Keir with a single tour guide yesterday to see one of China’s most revered cultural sites
Sir Keir had to make do with one visitor guide yesterday as the site remained open for tourists
Donald and Melania Trump visit the Forbidden City with President Xi Jinping and Peng Liyuan in Beijing in November 2017 when they received a private tour and it was cleared of tourists
Donald and Melania Trump look at around the Forbidden City with Xi Jinping in November 2017
Donald Trump poses with First Lady Melania Trump in the Forbidden City in November 2017
Photographs taken at the time show the area was completely cleared of tourists, as the leaders posed with their respective First Ladies, Melania Trump and Peng Liyuan.
Luke de Pulford, head of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, tweeted: ‘Starmer went on a tour of the Forbidden City. The place had not been cleared of people.
‘He was accompanied by just a tour guide. Does anyone at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office know how much of a slight this was?
‘The Chinese put a huge amount of effort into signalling importance through protocol. This was not an accident. It was intended to communicate something.’
Following an earlier meeting with President Xi, Sir Keir told reporters outside the Forbidden City that progress had been made on issues including tariffs on whisky and visa-free travel to China.
He said: ‘We had a very good, productive session with real, concrete outcomes and it was a real strengthening of the relationship and that’s in the national interest, because, of course, there are huge opportunities here in China as the second biggest economy in the world, and that’s why we’ve got such a big business delegation.
‘A lot of discussion was about how we open up access for those opportunities, focusing – as I always do – on how is this going to be delivered back in the United Kingdom? How does it benefit people back at home?
‘And we made some really good progress on tariffs for whisky, on visa-free travel to China and on information exchange and co-operation on irregular migration, focusing particularly on small boats and engine parts. So a very good, constructive meeting with real outcomes, and that’s very much in our national interest.’
Irish Taoiseach Micheál Martin also visited the Forbidden City in Beijing on January 5
French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte at the Forbidden City in January 2018
Michelle Obama with her daughters Sasha and Malia along with her mother Marian Robinson along with China’s First Lady Peng Liyuan during a visit to the Forbidden City in March 2014
David Cameron and George Osborne during a visit to the Forbidden City in December 2007
Then-Chancellor Gordon Brown visits the Forbidden City with a translator in February 2005
Lord Coe and then-London Mayor Ken Livingstone visit the Forbidden City in April 2006
Andrew, then Duke of York, chats with a tour guide at the Forbidden City in April 2014
Sir Keir arrived in Beijing on Wednesday with Business Secretary Peter Kyle and Treasury minister Lucy Rigby, along with a delegation of 54 business and cultural leaders.
The leaders also discussed Ukraine but there was no indication that Sir Keir persuaded President Xi to end his support for Russia.
No 10 also sparked fresh outrage by opening the door to President Xi – who last came to Britain a decade ago under David Cameron’s ‘golden era’ of close relations between the two countries – visiting the UK again.
Former foreign secretary Sir James Cleverly said: ‘Is that it? Having contorted himself to please Beijing, Starmer’s ‘big win’ is getting the same visa deal that France and Germany already have. He sells himself, and the UK, so cheaply. It’s pathetic.’
Downing Street said agreement had been reached on China relaxing visa rules for British citizens, so that no one visiting for fewer than 30 days will have to go through the application process.
And tariffs on whisky exports will be cut from 10 per cent to 5 per cent – a move worth £250million over five years for mainly Scottish companies.
The Forbidden City was constructed from 1406 to 1420 and is so-called because for centuries it was off-limits for commoners to enter without special permission.
The site was the centre of the Ming and Qing dynasties from 1420 to 1912, when a revolution overthrew the last emperor – and it was later reopened as the Palace Museum.
The complex has been a Unesco World Heritage Site since 1987 and boasts over 9,000 rooms, making it the largest and best preserved example of ancient architecture in China.
