KEY POINTS
- Liz Truss will urge the West to support Taiwan and discourage appeasing China in an upcoming speech
- She wants British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to keep U.K.-China economic talks suspended
- Truss is on a five-day trip to Taiwan, becoming the first ex-British PM to visit the island in 27 years
Former British Prime Minister Liz Truss will emphasize in an upcoming speech Taiwan’s need for unwavering support from the West amid growing Chinese aggression.
Excerpts obtained by Reuters of the speech Truss will deliver in Taipei Wednesday revealed that the former U.K. prime minister is set to warn the West against appeasing China just to prevent a possible cross-strait conflict with the self-ruled island.
“We must support free democracies like Taiwan in the face of aggression from a Chinese regime whose record is all too clear for the world to see,” Truss’ speech read. “The only choice we have is whether we appease and accommodate – or we take action to prevent conflict.”
Truss is also expected to lash out at Europe’s Taiwan policy by calling it “completely irresponsible” and insisting that the island is a “core interest” to the continent, Politico reported.
The Conservative MP will also use her speech to urge her successor, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, to keep trade and economic talks between the U.K. and China on ice and shut down Confucius Institutes, which promote Chinese culture and language.
Truss arrived in Taiwan Tuesday local time for a five-day visit, becoming the first former British prime minister to set foot on the island in more than two decades.
Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu welcomed Truss when she landed at the Taoyuan International Airport, Focus Taiwan reported.
On Wednesday, Truss will give a speech in a forum entitled “Taiwan: On the Frontline of Freedom and Democracy,” organized by the Taiwanese government-funded Prospect Foundation think tank.
Truss is also scheduled to meet with Taiwan’s senior government officials and other personalities from the island’s political, business, and academic sectors, according to the Taiwanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
However, Truss’ Taiwan visit was met with condemnation from the Chinese Embassy in London, which called it a “dangerous political show which will do nothing but harm to the United Kingdom.”
During her short tenure as U.K.’s head of government, Truss said her country was determined to cooperate with Western allies to counter China’s threats to Taiwan.
“What I’ve been clear about is that all of our allies need to make sure Taiwan is able to defend itself, and that is very, very important,” Truss said in her interview with CNN‘s Jake Tapper last September.
While the U.K. does not recognize Taiwan’s independence as adherence to Beijing’s One China policy, London maintains unofficial bilateral relations with Taipei, with a British Office established on the island. Taiwan also maintains a representative office in London.
