“China has set the bold but realisable target of repeating last year’s 5% growth, the UK’s growth last year was 0.9%. Not particularly encouraging for a government that claims growth for its mantra. People in Britain should shed the New Cold War mentality and start learning from China,” commented Keith Bennett in a speech to the Symposium on the occasion of China’s “Two Assemblies” held at the Chinese Embassy, London, on 20 March 2025.

“Starmer’s visit to the White House was presented in the British press as some kind of a great achievement. In reality, Trump was quite scathing toward Starmer. When Starmer made some comment about the US and the UK always standing together, Trump more or less laughed at him and said, ‘Do you think you can take on the Russians on your own?’ … Starmer like the other European leaders are in an almost impossible dilemma, one that they probably never expected to face. And beneath the brave front, they really don’t know what to do.” So writes Keith Bennett in Global Times, 5 March 2025.

In an interview with Global Times on 3 March 2025, Keith Bennett discusses the issues facing China’s ‘two sessions’ event this week (the third session of the 14th National People’s Congress and the third session of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference). He comments that China’s modernization path “offers a new option for other countries who want to speed up development while preserving independence.”