British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer pulled legislation to hand over the strategically significant Chagos Islands to an ally of Communist China following pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump.
Earlier this week, President Trump declared that for the United Kingdom to give up the Indian Ocean territory with a “vital” joint U.S. military base to the Indian Ocean island nation of Mauritius for “no reason whatsoever” was an “act of great stupidity”.
The comments came amid a back-and-forth over control of Greenland and the potential for incursions by adversarial nations such as China. Prime Minister Starmer attempted to claim that the critiques from Mr Trump were merely made in the service of advancing his aim of acquiring Greenland from Denmark rather than genuine objections to the planned handover of the Chagos Islands.
However, following the U.S. leader’s comments, the opposition Conservative Party warned that the deal may violate the 1966 treaty between the U.S. and Britain, which confirmed that the territory remained under UK sovereignty.
Thus, the government has decided to pull the legislation concerning the handover before it was planned for debate in the House of Lords on Monday, The Telegraph reported.
Of particular concern, should the deal go through, is the fate of the military base on the Chagos island of Diego Garcia, which has been used by British and American forces for the past five decades, providing a critical outpost facing the Pacific.
Under the terms of the proposed deal, the UK would not only hand over control of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, but it would also pay the island nation around £100 million per year to lease back the land surrounding the military base for the next 99 years. However, this is dependent on Mauritius, which has close ties to the CCP and is a member of Beijing’s Belt and Road initiative, to hold up its end of the bargain.
The decision to hand over the territory was made in 2022 under Rishi Sunak’s Conservative Party government following a 2019 non-binding ruling from the International Court of Justice at the United Nations, which called for the “decolonisation of” the territory. The policy was continued by Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour Party government, which features pro-reparations radicals, including Attorney General Baron Hermer.
The issue highlights the growing concern from Washington about its allies across the Atlantic and their ability to retain critical territory, as also seen in Denmark, where colonial guilt has seen the NATO ally cede authority to the residents of Greenland, including the ability to gain outright independence and thus the potential to also pair with adversarial nations.
Although President Biden and later President Trump initially approved of the Chagos transfer, British opposition figures such as Reform UK leader Nigel Farage and Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch have reportedly raised concerns to Washington this week amid the breakdown over Greenland, which saw Britain join other European nations in sending troops to the Arctic island.
Meanwhile, tensions have also broken out between London and Washington over Starmer’s decision to give final approval to a large-scale Chinese embassy at Royal Mint Court in London. Concerns have been raised that the authoritarian regime may use the site to target political dissidents from Hong Kong and other areas, or to tap into Britain’s sensitive communications network.
Prime Minister Starmer, alongside Chancellor Rachel Reeves and leading businessmen, will travel to China this week in an apparent bid to improve ties with Beijing and deepen trade relations. The trip will mark the first visit from a British prime minister to the communist country since 2018’s ‘Operation Kowtow‘.
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