Could China become the world's policeman?
The Story
The Times
3.9 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 30 January 2026
⏱️ 36 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Keir Starmer is visiting China, becoming the first UK prime minister to travel to Beijing in eight years. His trip comes amid a queue of world leaders seeking meetings with Xi Jinping, as some countries look for leverage in an increasingly volatile global order. But can China be trusted as a global partner? And as the US appears to be stepping back from its role as the world’s policeman, what kind of power is China prepared to become?
This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today: http://thetimes.com/thestory
Guest:
- Cindy Yu, columnist and contributing editor at The Times & The Sunday Times.
- Isabel Hilton, journalist and China watcher.
Host: Manveen Rana.
Producers: Julia Webster, Harry Stott, and Sophie McNulty.
We want to hear from you - email: thestory@thetimes.com
Read more: What Keir Starmer and Xi Jinping said in China (and what they meant)
Further listening: Is China’s mega-embassy a mega-spy base?
Clips: BBC, World Economic Forum, CBS, APT, DRM News
Photo: Getty Images.
This podcast was brought to you thanks to subscribers of The Times and The Sunday Times. To enjoy unlimited digital access to all our journalism subscribe here.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | From the Times and the Sunday times, this is the story. |
| 0:05.9 | I'm Manvina. |
| 0:10.8 | They say that eight days is a long time in politics. |
| 0:17.1 | Try eight years, because it's eight years since a British Prime Minister stepped on Chinese soil. |
| 0:24.4 | Kirstama is making history with his visit to Beijing. |
| 0:28.5 | Met by a guard of honour, accompanied by an enormous delegation, |
| 0:33.7 | he's made it quite clear that he's here to make friends. |
| 0:37.7 | We had a very good productive session with real concrete outcomes, |
| 0:42.2 | and it was a real strengthening of the relationship, |
| 0:45.5 | and that's in the national interest, |
| 0:46.8 | because of course there are huge opportunities here in China. |
| 0:49.9 | It's the second biggest economy in the world. |
| 0:52.7 | But it's not just deals on trade he'll be seeking. |
| 0:56.4 | Starma is joining a long line of world leaders queuing up to meet President Xi. |
| 1:02.2 | Having been buffeted by a volatile and unpredictable White House, |
| 1:06.9 | they're seeking a bit of stability by forging a new alliance with a great power. |
| 1:12.7 | We used to talk about de-risking from China. |
| 1:15.3 | I don't hear that too much anymore, if you know what I'm saying? |
| 1:18.2 | We're talking about de-risking elsewhere. |
| 1:20.1 | It's a rupture, it's not a transition. |
| 1:22.2 | Canada can thrive in a new system, but to do so, we must be ambitious. |
| 1:26.9 | We must find new partners. And it's with this approach that Canada is forging a new system, but to do so, we must be ambitious. We must find new partners. And it's with |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Times, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of The Times and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.