Liz Truss has made Taiwan one of her key career destinations since Downing Street. Credit: (AP/J Scott Applewhite
The UK must step up defense cooperation with Taiwan and use «hard power» to protect it from Chinese aggression, Liz Truss said during a historic visit to the island this week.
The former prime minister is expected to say that if the West wants to avoid a war that breaks out in the South China Sea, it should «get it right» on military cooperation by taking a «coordinated approach» to what weapons are sent to Taiwan.
She will also call on the UK government to support Taiwan's accession to its new Pacific Trade Pact, calling it «the most important place in the world» because it is «at the forefront of the global freedom battle.»
A prominent Chinese hawk During her tenure as Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Ms. Truss made Taiwan one of the key areas of interest in her post-Downing Street career.
«Beacon of Freedom»
In a speech in Japan in February, she hailed Taiwan as a «beacon of freedom» and warned that the West could repeat the mistake it made with Russia and Ukraine if it didn't do more to prevent a potential Chinese invasion.
This week, she will become the first former prime minister to visit Taiwan since Margaret Thatcher in the 1990s.
Because China sees Taiwan as a breakaway province that it seeks to retake like most other countries, the UK has no formal diplomatic relations with the island and sitting British ministers refrain from visiting.
In a speech on Fonda Avenue in Wednesday, Ms. Truss is expected to tell her audience that she has decided to visit the island “to raise awareness around the world about the situation you are in.”
“I am also here because I believe that this is the most significant place in the world—in the most significant struggle of our time,” she is expected to say.
“Today we are at the forefront. line of the global battle for freedom. The Chinese Communist Party is in an ideological struggle with the free world — they openly talk about it … This is a battle of ideas as much as an attempt to seize power on the world stage.
More defense coordination.
In her speech, she will call for increased defense coordination with Taiwan.
She is expected to say: “We cannot pretend that containment is possible without the use of hard power. And if we are serious about conflict prevention in the South China Sea, we need to get serious about military and defense cooperation. We need a coordinated approach to what exports are allowed to go to Taiwan.”
While Ms Truss will not urge the UK to cross the Rubicon of formally recognizing Taiwan and establishing formal diplomatic relations, she will say the West needs to step up its international status in order to more effectively coordinate issues such as arms exports with it.
In most countries, Taiwan does not have embassies, but unofficial «representations».
“More coordination is needed with Taiwan on what is needed,” Ms Truss is expected to say.< /p>
“Too much politics is done without negotiating with Taiwan. Instead, we must ensure that Taiwan's missions around the world have the status to conduct the necessary negotiations.»
Develop trade between the UK and Taiwan
She will also urge the UK to use its new status as a member of the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) to support Taiwan's bid to join the trade bloc while vetoing China never to become a member.
< p>She is expected to say: “The addition of Taiwan will not only boost trade between the UK and Taiwan, which is already £8.5bn. It would also help forge further economic ties and the sustainability of this important democracy.
“The UK should advocate for accelerating Taiwan's accession to the EU in cooperation with key members. It is also vital that China be banned from ever being a member of the CPTPP.”
In August 2022, China responded to a visit to Taiwan by then-Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi with massive shooting. exercises around the island.
Last week, Chinese Communist Party spokesman Victor Gao denounced Ms. Truss's visit, but scorned the idea that it would elicit a similar reaction from Beijing to Ms. Pelosi's visit.
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