Liz Truss will call on the West to bolster support for Taiwan in the face of Chinese aggression during a visit to the self-governing island, the first by a former British prime minister in almost three decades.
(Bloomberg) — Liz Truss will call on the West to bolster support for Taiwan in the face of Chinese aggression during a visit to the self-governing island, the first by a former British prime minister in almost three decades.
“It is completely irresponsible for European nations to wash their hands of Taiwan,” Truss will say in a speech Wednesday in Taipei warning about China’s recent military buildup. “The only choice we have is whether we appease and accommodate – or we take action to prevent conflict.”
It’s just the latest intervention on China by Truss since leaving 10 Downing Street in October, after a disastrous and record-breaking 49-day premiership that triggered financial market and political turmoil.
Her hawkish stance toward Beijing is at odds with her successor Rishi Sunak’s attempt to reset ties with the world’s second-largest economy, and her Taiwan visit has drawn criticism from members of his governing Conservative Party.
A recent review of Britain’s security policy stopped short of branding China a strategic threat, but that disappointed those Tories who say British engagement with Beijing has failed — a faction that includes Truss. In Taipei, she will call on the review to be amended to “state clearly that China is a threat.”
The comments come at an awkward time for Sunak, who has faced a steady drip of criticism in recent weeks especially from the Tory right. The party shed more than 1,000 seats in local votes this month and trail the opposition Labour Party by a double-digit margin in national surveys. The prime minister travels to the Group of Seven summit in Hiroshima, Japan on Wednesday.
“There are still too many in the West who are trying to cling on to the idea that we can cooperate with China on issues like climate change, as if there is nothing wrong; that there are bigger issues than Chinese global dominance,” Truss will tell the Prospect Foundation think tank, according to her office. “We know what happens to the environment or world health under totalitarian regimes that don’t tell the truth. You can’t believe a word they say.”
Taiwan typically welcomes visits by overseas political and business delegations, amid growing fears the island may become a flashpoint as ties between China and the US deteriorate. A visit by then-US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in August triggered the ire of Beijing officials who ordered an unprecedented series of military drills around the island in response.
Truss is expected to meet with senior members of Taiwan’s government. “My visit this week is enabling me to communicate directly the solidarity that the British people have with the people of Taiwan,” Truss will say. “It’s an enduring rebuke to totalitarianism.”
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