China Backs Starmer’s Chagos Deal

Beijing has called Starmer’s £30 billion Chagos Islands handover a “massive achievement”, blowing a hole in his claim that China was against the deal. The Telegraph has the story.

Beijing’s ambassador to Mauritius talked up the deal in a speech on Tuesday, after Sir Keir signed away the Chagos Islands and agreed to pay Mauritius £30 billion over 99 years.

Huang Shifang told guests at the Chinese embassy that her government offered “massive congratulations” on the deal, and that China “fully supports” Mauritius’s attempt to “safeguard national sovereignty”.

She also confirmed that Mauritius would soon join Beijing’s Belt and Road initiative, despite claims from the UK Government that the East African island nation was not under Chinese influence. …

Under the terms of the Prime Minister’s deal announced last week, the UK will pay billions of pounds to rent back the military base after sovereignty of the islands has been transferred to Mauritius.

The Government argues that the deal creates legal security for the base, which was under threat from a territorial dispute from Mauritius in the international courts.

Addressing his critics, Sir Keir told a press conference that Conservative and Reform opponents of the deal were in a “column” with Russia, China and Iran, who he said had all opposed it. …

Dame Priti Patel, the shadow foreign secretary, told the Telegraph: “Once again, Keir Starmer has been caught peddling a lie.

“He claimed that those who opposed his mad plan to surrender the Chagos Islands were in league with hostile powers – whilst himself handing over control of our own sovereign territory to a nation firmly in China’s grasp.”

Worth reading in full.

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Heretic
Heretic
10 months ago

Good find! When are our Elected Representatives in Parliament going to vote on the deal, we wonder?

SimCS
10 months ago
Reply to  Heretic

Will they even get a vote?!

Heretic
Heretic
10 months ago
Reply to  SimCS

I did write to the MP requesting that all MPs demand a vote on the outrageous plan by one man to give away British Territory, like giving Wales to Russia, and was assured that the MP would keep a close eye on the situation, but haven’t heard anything about a vote in Parliament yet. I’m surprised Reform MPs haven’t demanded such a vote.

You’d think the king would grasp Starmer firmly by the ear and say, “Look here, who do you think you are, giving away part of my kingdom, you Communist Weasel?”… or something along those lines, wouldn’t you?

Pete Rose
Pete Rose
10 months ago
Reply to  Heretic

The king is a pathetically wet hyper-liberal who has bought into the religion of intersectionality, so there’s no chance of that.

Marcus Aurelius knew
10 months ago

This is a surprise to whom, exactly?

Art Simtotic
10 months ago

Six of the worst – “All of Starmer’s Chagos Porkies:

https://order-order.com/2025/05/22/starmer-peddles-disinformation-to-sell-chagos-surrender/

RW
RW
10 months ago

The Government argues that the deal creates legal security for the base, which was under threat from a territorial dispute from Mauritius in the international courts.

That is, the Starmer government is still peddling the lie that the UK is not a sovereign great power¹ but a mere territory that’s subject to UN jurisdiction and that he must thus cede control of British territory to the applause of China to Chinese vassal states.

Coming to think of if, wasn’t Keir Starmer also the guy who used to be in favour of following Chinese COVID policies much closer than even Boris-the-jelly ever wanted?

Shall we not call him Keir Quisling (or maybe, Keir Xi-ling?) as commendation for services rendered to other countries while in power over here?

¹ Definition of great power: State which has the capability for military operations anywhere on the globe.

SimCS
10 months ago

If china is pleased, we shouldn’t be.

Jack the dog
Jack the dog
10 months ago

Reality is not something that sstarmer knows how to deal with frankly a poor choice for PM.

Jabby Mcstiff
Jabby Mcstiff
10 months ago

These people are heroic after having their homes taken from them. I hope that they will be able to rebuild their communities. They are beautiful people and I think they will. Pretty nasty having your life and your culture robbed from you and forced to live in a slum just so that the Anglo-Americans can set up a base in your homeland and terrorize a section of the world.

David Jones
David Jones
10 months ago

Dafydd
According to google AI there are only 50 British personnel on Diego Garcia

“AI Overview

There are approximately 50 British military personnel on Diego Garcia, with 42 specifically mentioned in a previous report. The base is primarily occupied by US forces, with around 1,700 military personnel and 1,500 civilian contractors, according to Wikipedia. “

This will work out at a minimum of over £2,000,000 per person per year. Why are we paying to keep what is essentially an American base, open?

RW
RW
10 months ago
Reply to  David Jones

Why should Mauritius graciously accept these islands on behalf of its Chinese overlords when a payment for doing so is also on offer? Kierling Starmer doesn’t care — he’s spending other people’s money and compared to costs of Net Zero, this will be chump change.

I’m no friend of speculating about people’s hidden motives, however, I’m pretty convinced of by their fruits, ye shall know them. Starmer’s acts, both domestic (early release for violent foreign sex offenders but no parole for white British people imprisoned for uncouth use of Twitter) and abroad (eg, this deal) are objectively harmful to Britain and the British people. Hence, that’s what he must want to accomplish.

Judith pelham
Judith pelham
10 months ago
Reply to  RW

There isn’t any money
We will have to borrow to pay them

RW
RW
10 months ago
Reply to  Judith pelham

That’s according to a currently fashionable theory about financing public expenses, namely, that it’s economically more efficient to always borrow the money, including borrowing money to repay old debts, and use the income of the state just to pay the interest.

You’re correct but everything the state does is paid for with borrowed money.

This seems a bit weird to me but I can’t claim any expertise in this area.

Lockdown Sceptic
10 months ago

China Smiles at Britain’s State

RTSC
RTSC
10 months ago

As far as I’m concerned Two-Tier is a traitor. This “deal” is indefensible: for a start the ICJ has no jurisdiction in disputes between Commonwealth Countries.

When Mauritius came calling, the Lawyer PM should have told them “if you want to dispute Sovereignty, first you have to leave the Commonwealth.”

And that would have sent a clear message to all the other (sponging) members of the Commonwealth.

RW
RW
10 months ago
Reply to  RTSC

The ICJ has no jurisdiction over anything or anyone. It’s a kangaroo court based on a fictional narrative. States may voluntarily agree to recur to it for arbitration in case of foreign policy disputes. But they still don’t have to accept its decisions. Further, this particular decision is obviously a political one. China wants no British presence east of Kent (whether or not it exactly wants a British presence west of Kent would be an interesting question). And hence, a kangaroo court under Chinese influence found accordingly.