00:00British Prime Minister Keir Starmer's visit to China is the latest win Beijing can tout in its
00:06rivalry with Washington. But the deal Starmer brought home show how hard it is for middle
00:11powers like the UK and Canada to find balance between the United States and China. Canada's
00:17Mark Carney struck a trade deal on a similar visit weeks ago. India's Narendra Modi and
00:23European leaders have also made the trip. The message they're trying to send Washington is
00:28simple. We have alternatives. That's if Trump continues to make trade tariff threats over
00:34issues like his plan to grab control of Greenland. We need Greenland. Economists warn a pivot to China
00:41has sharp limits. Alicia Garcia Herrero, chief Asia-Pacific economist at Natixis, calls the
00:48visits superficial gestures amid stalled global growth. China's consumer demand is weak. Imports
00:55were flat last year, about $2.6 trillion, and they were mostly energy and commodities,
01:01not Western goods. Meanwhile, China's trade surplus hit a record $1.2 trillion. Its manufacturers have
01:09responded to Trump's tariffs by flooding goods into other markets at the expense of domestic
01:15producers. Yet it's all helping China's narrative of becoming the world's reliable partner in contrast
01:21to Trump's chaotic tariff policies and threats towards allies and rivals alike. The deals Britain
01:28clinched in Beijing made some headlines. Visa-free access for Britain's going to China, lower Scotch
01:34tariffs, and multi-billion-dollar expansion plans for drugmaker AstraZeneca. On harder issues, though,
01:41like China's Russian ties, its threats against Taiwan, and its political crackdown on Hong Kong,
01:46Starmer got nothing more than frank dialogue. At home, critics raised espionage and human rights
01:53accusations, claims Beijing denies. Last year, China shipped 7.8 percent more to Britain while
01:59buying 4.7 percent less. Former International Monetary Fund China director Eswar Prasad says it's a risky
02:07proposition for countries trying to protect or grow their own manufacturing industries to substantially
02:13boost trade integration with China. Still, some analysts say resetting ties could be valuable for
02:19countries like Britain or Canada right now. As Europe-China expert Noah Bakken puts it,
02:25no country wants to be in open conflict with the two superpowers at the same time.
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