Britain and Canada Turn to China

Britain is following Canada’s example in embracing China today, as Keir Starmer makes the first visit to China by a British prime minister since 2018. Bringing more than 50 business leaders with him, he discussed with Chinese strongman Xi Jinping a “comprehensive strategic partnership,” including decreases in tariffs and increases in trade. The two agreed to some tariff reductions, as well as to visa-free travel for British citizens visiting China.

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The visit is controversial in Britain and in America. Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said Starmer had gone to “kowtow to President Xi” and was compromising “national security for economic crumbs off the Chinese table.”

Before the trip, the government green-lighted plans to allow China to build a new “super embassy” in London—despite revelations that its location and abnormally large basement could give Chinese spies the chance to surveil nearby sensitive data cables.

It comes a fortnight after Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney traveled to China to announce a “new strategic partnership.”

Meanwhile, Australia is learning that it isn’t easy to get out of bed with China. The government granted China’s Landbridge firm a 99-year lease on a major port in Darwin, near one of Australia’s most important military bases. The decision was very unpopular, and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese promised to take it back. But China’s ambassador to Australia, Xiao Quan, said today, “If anything happens, like the port being taken back by forceful measures, then we have an obligation to take measures to protect the Chinese company’s interests.”

China has a huge amount of money to spend, so Western leaders ignore the fact that it is ruled by one of the most evil regimes on the planet, denying rights to its people, convicting more than 99 percent of people charged with crimes, locking at least a million of its own people in concentration camps, and propping up murderous dictators all over the world.

It’s understandable that leaders like Carney and Starmer are frustrated with Donald Trump, but turning to China is a dangerous and irrational response. China has the ability to turn the lights out in Australia. Will Britain and Canada be next? We explored the consequences of this prophesied trend last year in our Trumpet magazine.

German Chancellor: Europe is Ready to Be a World Power

“We are witnessing rapid political change,” German Chancellor Friedrich Merz told the German Bundestag today. To preserve the European ideal, he said, the European Union must “speak the language of power politics” and “become a European power.”

• The chancellor is directly and openly calling for Germany to become more politically, diplomatically, economically and militarily aggressive.

Over the past few weeks, Europe has proved that it can compete with the world’s powers, and there is more to come. Merz praised Europe’s success in:

• Drastically increasing military spending, led by Germany
• Fending off the tariff threat issued by U.S. President Donald Trump after some European countries sent troops to Greenland
• Signing the world’s largest free trade agreement with the mercosur countries in Latin America
• Concluding negotiations on another massive trade deal with India

Merz also noted that internal divisions continue to hinder EU progress.

In the context of the conflict with the U.S., he emphasized that “we are partners and allies, not subordinates,” nailing the coffin shut on the postwar order in which Germany was a defeated enemy, then a nato power subordinate to the U.S. in its standoff with the Soviet Union.

Merz claimed that the EU now represents the world’s largest free trade area and is “a normative alternative to imperialism and autocracy.”

While continuing to claim friendship with the U.S., Merz emphasized that he sees opportunities for Europe to unify, build its military, and form new alliances with powers other than the U.S.

• That’s why the EU will host a special summit on February 12, partly initiated by the German chancellor, to strengthen European competitiveness.

Led by Germany, Europe is developing into a global power. But hurdles remain that can be overcome only by a more united Europe with an overarching leader. Europe is waking up to this reality, and Bible prophecy reveals it will soon overcome these obstacles.

European Financial Leaders Want a Smaller, Hard-Core Superstate

“Now is the time for a Europe of two speeds.” That was the assertion of German Vice Chancellor Lars Klingbeil ahead of yesterday’s virtual meeting between finance and economic ministers from France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland and Spain.

These leaders, representing Europe’s six largest economies, discussed raw materials supplies, the euro currency, unifying financial markets, and military spending, according to the meeting’s invitation letter.

Bible prophecy shows they will succeed in all these goals.

For decades, European leaders have debated the idea of organizing Europe into an inner core of nations willing to more rapidly and more fully consolidate, and an outer orbit of nations less willing to surrender their sovereignty. Germany and France, Europe’s two largest centers of gravity, have consistently pushed for establishing a “two-speed Europe.”

• The European Union currently consists of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden. Major EU decisions typically require the agreement of all 27 member states.

“Europe has to become stronger and more resilient,” Klingbeil said. “Work toward this goal needs to be sped up in all dimensions. Continuing as before is not an option.” He referred to the meeting as a “kick-off” for such a group.

The EU tried this before with the 2012 formation of the “Berlin Group,” and momentum toward consolidation has recently increased again.

• The Telegraph noted on January 26, “There’s a new appetite to move forward on important matters in smaller groups of member states if necessary. Unanimous decisions are out of fashion, with more and more being taken by a vote, with a majority vote, weighted by population.”
• Former German Defense Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, a man the Trumpet watches closely, has called for a multispeed EU for more than a decade.

The Trumpet has warned that Europe will become a leaner, stronger, more decisive power bloc that surrenders authority not only to a core of 10 nations or nation-groups, but to one nation, Germany, and even one specific German strongman (possibly Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg).

Revelation 17 prophesies that “ten kings” will emerge who temporarily come together to form a powerful, unified empire before the return of Jesus Christ.

The late Herbert W. Armstrong identified this empire as German-dominated and Catholic-led Europe. He warned of its rise for decades. In 1981, he said:

When it does happen it will happen suddenly—so quickly it will take your breath, and the whole world will gasp in awe and wonder when they see the things that are prophesied. For example, 10 nations in Europe—probably five of them in Western Europe and five in Eastern Europe—reviving, resurrecting the so-called Holy Roman Empire of the Middle Ages; and that is going to happen very soon now.

Watch for the 27 EU nations to condense into a smaller, more decisive, much more powerful group that exerts power over the rest of Europe and against the United States and Britain. Our book The Holy Roman Empire in Prophecy explains.

IN OTHER NEWS

Russian stall tactic: Putin will meet Zelenskyy—but only in Moscow: Russian President Vladimir Putin will hold a direct dialogue with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, but only at a location in Moscow, Kremlin official Yuri Ushakov said yesterday. The remark followed comments from Ukraine’s government the day before that Zelenskyy is prepared to meet Putin to work toward ending the war. Ukraine has made similar offers repeatedly in recent months, all of which Russia has rejected. Considering Russia’s well-documented attempts to assassinate Zelenskyy, the notion of him traveling to Moscow is absurd. Analysts view the remark as a stalling tactic by Putin, designed to prolong the war while casting Ukraine as unreasonable and unwilling to negotiate. To understand Putin’s biblically prophesied ruthlessness and impact, read The Prophesied ‘Prince of Russia.’

The EU needs a super-president, Manfred Weber, leader of the European People’s Party, asserted on Wednesday. Given pressure from the current U.S. administration, Weber concluded that Europe is not “up to the task. … We are blocked, we are speechless, we are voiceless, we have no say on the global stage, and that has to be stopped.” He advocated merging the roles of president of the European Commission and president of the European Council into one office and called for EU countries to abandon the requirement of unanimous consent for foreign and security policy issues and instead vote by majority. Revelation 17 reveals that Europe will condense into a core group of nations and be led by an all-powerful ruler. The appetite for this is growing.

EU punishes Iran for crackdown: The European Union’s foreign ministers placed sanctions on Iranian individuals and institutions involved in the brutal crackdown of protesters and the killing of more than 30,000 people. They also formally listed the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist group. France and other EU members had been reluctant to do so, but Europe is taking notice of the Iranian regime’s violent nature. The Bible warns that these two power blocs are heading for war.

Netanyahu blames Biden for idf deaths: In a press conference on January 27, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed United States President Joe Biden’s arms embargo caused the death of Israel Defense Forces troops. “At a certain stage,” Netanyahu said, “we reached a stage where we did not have enough ammunition, and people fell—heroes fell.” Without mentioning Biden or his government by name, he blamed the deaths on “the embargo” that was remedied “with the entry of President Trump’s administration.” On Oct. 7, 2023, Biden said his “administration’s support for Israel’s security is rock solid and unwavering.” But as our July 2024 Trumpet issue shows, the facts undermined that pronouncement.

fbi investigates 2020 election: Yesterday, federal agents searched an election office in Fulton County, Georgia, one of the areas where apparent voter fraud altered the result of the 2020 election. President Donald Trump said last week that “people will soon be prosecuted” for “rigging” that election. The fbi search targeted documents, computers and ballots from the 2020 election. Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry has consistently said that the 2020 election was stolen by Joe Biden and Barack Obama, and he prophesied years in advance that President Trump would successfully “war” to recover it. Read about it in his July 2021 article “What Will Happen After Trump Regains Power” and his March 2025 article “Why God Is Saving America Through Trump.”