Liz Truss to visit Taiwan in ‘solidarity’ with growing threats from China | Politics news
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Liz Truss will visit Taiwan next week to give a speech on democracy in the face of China’s “increasingly aggressive behavior”.
Former prime minister to deliver keynote address to think tank to show ‘solidarity’ with Taiwan, which faces growing threat from China– said her press secretary.
She is expected to meet with high-ranking Taiwanese government officials during her trip.
Ms Truss, who was also foreign secretary under Boris Johnson, has been giving speeches around the world focused on confronting China since she stepped down as prime minister last October after just 44 days.
Ahead of next week’s visit, she said: “Taiwan is a beacon of freedom and democracy.
“I look forward to the opportunity to personally show solidarity with the Taiwanese people in the face of the increasingly aggressive behavior and rhetoric of the regime in Beijing.”
In recent months, Ms. Truss has given a speech on China to the Japanese parliament and the Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C., where she urged Western democracies to toughen their stance on China.
Two days before her visit to Taiwan, she will speak at the Copenhagen Democracy Summit, where she will talk about an “economic NATO” where like-minded countries agree to make trade and investment decisions to support freedom.
Ms Truss’ short-lived premiership contributed to the deterioration of relations between Britain and China, but her successor Rishi Sunak tried to interact with China where possible.
Foreign Secretary James Cleverley said he had “outlined” Britain’s views on issues including Taiwan during a meeting with Chinese Vice President Han Zheng on Friday.
Some MPs, including Tories, condemned Mr Khan’s invitation to attend the king’s coronation last weekend and Mr Cleverley’s planned visit to China this year.
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Nancy Pelosi and Taiwan’s Vice President Tsai Chi Chang in Taipei last year
Visits to Taiwan by Western politicians have become more ambiguous as China ratchets up its rhetoric and displays of military power against Taiwan.
A visit to the island by then-US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi last year was condemned by Beijing, which began military exercises around Taiwan shortly after she landed.
A longtime critic of the Beijing regime, Ms. Pelosi met with a former student leader of the Tiananmen Square protest, a Hong Kong dissident, a bookseller and a Taiwanese activist imprisoned in China.
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“They don’t stop us from going to Taiwan”
Beijing called the visit a “provocation” by the US and warned President Joe Biden to uphold the “One China” principle, adding that “those who play with fire will die from it.”
The Foreign Office was “aware of and aware” of Ms Truss’ visit to Taiwan, her team said, but the department is not responsible for approving foreign visits by MPs.
