ISLAMABAD:
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer landed in Beijing on Wednesday, the first visit by a British prime minister to China in eight years. The visit reflects a striking shift in Western diplomacy at a time when the U.S.-led alliance system is under pressure following President Donald Trump’s return to the White House.
Starmer, who had previously described China as a national security threat, is now seeking talks with President Xi Jinping, a move that underscores growing uncertainty among Washington’s traditional allies.
The British leader is not alone. In recent months, leaders from France, Ireland and Canada have also traveled to Beijing, while the German Chancellor is expected to visit China next month. These diplomatic overtures would have been unthinkable just a few years ago, when Western capitals were largely aligned to confront Beijing on trade, technology and human rights.
The diplomatic rotation coincides with a major economic realignment. Earlier this week, the 27 countries of the European Union and India signed a long-awaited free trade agreement, widely dubbed the “mother of all agreements.”
Negotiations on the EU-India free trade pact began in 2007 but collapsed in 2013 due to stark differences over tariffs, market access, intellectual property rights and regulatory standards. For more than a decade, the agreement remained frozen, a victim of mistrust and competing economic priorities.
Trump’s return to power changed the calculations.
His aggressive economic nationalism, heavy reliance on tariffs and transactional view of alliances pushed Brussels and New Delhi to revive talks and conclude an agreement that is historic not only in scale but also in symbolism. The agreement, covering nearly two billion people and about a quarter of the global economy, is as much a geostrategic statement as a trade pact.
It signals a broader shift: America’s traditional allies no longer wait for Washington to set the rules. Instead, they are building parallel economic and strategic frameworks to safeguard their interests.
Both Europe and India have felt the impact of Trump’s policies. Washington imposed tariffs on Indian exports of up to 50 percent on certain products, while accusing New Delhi of exploiting access to the US market and continuing to buy Russian oil. Trump has also repeatedly threatened the EU with punitive tariffs, questioned the relevance of NATO and even floated controversial ideas such as seizing Greenland.
The EU-India deal is therefore best understood as a strategic hedge against American unpredictability. By reducing dependence on the US market, both sides hope to build economic resilience in an era when globalization is increasingly determined by power politics rather than multilateral consensus.
Washington’s response was quick and blunt. The US Commerce Secretary called the deal “foolish” and questioned how the EU could sign a free trade deal with India while New Delhi continues to import Russian energy. The criticism reflects growing anxiety in Washington that its allies are no longer aligning their economic decisions with US strategic priorities.
The Trump administration is unlikely to take the deal lightly. Trump’s worldview treats trade as a zero-sum game, and any deal that dilutes American influence could provoke retaliation through stricter tariffs or political pressure.
However, the broader story extends beyond trade.
Trump’s return has accelerated a global realignment that was already underway. Countries that were once firmly anchored in the US-led order are increasingly exploring alternative partnerships. Ironically, many Western states are now engaging with China, the same power that has long presented itself as the main challenger to the rules-based international system.
Ideology is giving way to pragmatism. Trump’s policies have injected deep uncertainty into the global system. Allies who once depended on Washington for economic stability and security guarantees now fear becoming targets of the same “America First” agenda.
The EU-India agreement is therefore a symptom of a deeper transformation. The post-Cold War order, built on American leadership, liberal trade, and multilateral institutions, is gradually giving way to a fragmented landscape of overlapping alliances and competing economic blocs.
Trump did not create this change, but he has undeniably accelerated it. By weaponizing tariffs and redefining alliances as trade contracts, he forced America’s partners to rethink their strategies. In this emerging world, alliances are no longer permanent and interests are no longer determined by ideology. They are driven by necessity.
As Western leaders engage with Beijing and great powers strike megadeals without Washington’s blessing, the global order has not collapsed but has been fundamentally reconfigured. And in this reconfiguration, America’s allies no longer wait for Washington’s approval; They are writing their own rules and China is emerging as a key beneficiary.
