Sir Keir Starmer told Xi Jinping it was time for a ‘more sophisticated’ relationship, yet there is very little sign of that in his excruciating performance in China. This was supposed to be the moment the Prime Minister cashed in on a year spent cosying up to Beijing, during which he has been accused of jeopardising national security to avoid causing offence. Yet you do not need to be part of his large entourage of business people to calculate that the returns have been minimal, and the costs potentially enormous.

Donald Trump was certainly quick with his verdict. Asked about Starmer’s pursuit of closer business ties with China while attending the premier of a film about his wife Melania, the US President said: ‘Well, it’s very dangerous for them to do that’.

Whereas in past centuries, foreign missions to China’s imperial court carried gifts or ‘tribute’ to the emperor, Starmer carried a football, apparently signed by the players of Manchester United, said to be Xi’s favourite team. It’s not clear where he put it while awkwardly striding along the guard of honour at the Great Hall of the People on Tiananmen Square, though had he dribbled down the line it might have brought some levity to the totalitarian theatre that China so excels at.

As a rough rule of thumb, the cliches and platitudes at these events usually flow in inverse proportion to the substance, and so far there has been a blizzard of guff. As Starmer and his entourage moved on to Shanghai today, many among them could be forgiven for wondering why they bothered. They had already........

© The Spectator