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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
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Rafael Behr

The balance of global power is shifting fast, but Britain is stuck in the same old Brexit rut

A TV repair shop in Taiwan, with screens broadcasting the Beijing meeting between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping, 14 May 2026.
A TV repair shop in Taiwan, with screens broadcasting the Beijing meeting between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping, 14 May 2026. Photograph: Ritchie B Tongo/EPA

While the Labour party was in meltdown last week, Donald Trump was visiting China. By the time Wes Streeting had sent his resignation letter to Keir Starmer, the US president had completed a two-hour bilateral meeting with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, and moved on to sightseeing.

The events unfolded in parallel, but in the competition for media and Westminster attention the superpower summit couldn’t rival manoeuvres against the prime minister. That is normal. A domestic crisis will always bump foreign events off the news agenda.

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