The UK voiced support for peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait in a policy report published on Monday that mentioned Taiwan for the first time.
The Integrated Review Refresh 2023, which is built on the 2021 Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy, is an effort to guide the UK’s national security strategy in a “more contested and volatile world.”
China’s growing aggression in the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait is “threatening to create a world defined by danger, disorder and division — and an international order more favorable to authoritarianism,” Monday’s report said.
Photo: AP
China has “pursued rapid and opaque military modernization with huge new investments, militarized disputed islands in the South China Sea and refused to renounce the use of force to achieve its objectives with regard to Taiwan,” it said.
The China policy mapped out in the report reiterated the UK’s long-standing position that “the Taiwan issue should be settled peacefully by people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait through dialogue and not through any unilateral attempts to change the status quo.”
It also condemned Beijing’s coercion against Vilnius by imposing economic sanctions after it opened the Taiwanese Representative Office in Lithuania, the first office in Europe to be called “Taiwanese.”
Photo: AFP
The Chinese Communist Party strengthening its partnership with Russia, and continuing to disregard universal human rights in Tibet, Xinjiang and Hong Kong are also serious causes for concern, it said.
The UK vowed to bolster collective security with core allies and international partners to oppose behaviors that undermine international law, violate human rights or seek to coerce or create dependencies, it said.
In Taipei yesterday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that it “highly welcomed and sincerely appreciated” the pro-Taiwan rhetoric in the Integrated Review Refresh report.
The UK shares Taiwan’s values of democracy, freedom, human rights and the rule of law, the ministry said, adding that the government would continue to “strengthen mutually beneficial and substantive friendly relations with like-minded countries such as the UK, based on the already solid foundation.”
In related news, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Monday announced that the UK is doubling funding for next year and 2025 to further boost skills and knowledge for government staff on China.
The funding is to support the cross-department “China Capabilities Program,” which aims to provide training on economic and military policy as well as Chinese-language skills, Sunak’s office said in a statement.
The UK launched a pilot program last year based on the 2021 Integrated Review to provide training in Mandarin to 170 civil servants, with 20 going through a language immersion program in Taiwan, it said.
The increased financial support can help “boost knowledge and language skills across government, in the face of the systemic challenge that China poses to the UK’s security, prosperity and values,” British Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs James Cleverly said.
MORE VISITORS: The Tourism Administration said that it is seeing positive prospects in its efforts to expand the tourism market in North America and Europe Taiwan has been ranked as the cheapest place in the world to travel to this year, based on a list recommended by NerdWallet. The San Francisco-based personal finance company said that Taiwan topped the list of 16 nations it chose for budget travelers because US tourists do not need visas and travelers can easily have a good meal for less than US$10. A bus ride in Taipei costs just under US$0.50, while subway rides start at US$0.60, the firm said, adding that public transportation in Taiwan is easy to navigate. The firm also called Taiwan a “food lover’s paradise,” citing inexpensive breakfast stalls
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s
PLUGGING HOLES: The amendments would bring the legislation in line with systems found in other countries such as Japan and the US, Legislator Chen Kuan-ting said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) has proposed amending national security legislation amid a spate of espionage cases. Potential gaps in security vetting procedures for personnel with access to sensitive information prompted him to propose the amendments, which would introduce changes to Article 14 of the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法), Chen said yesterday. The proposal, which aims to enhance interagency vetting procedures and reduce the risk of classified information leaks, would establish a comprehensive security clearance system in Taiwan, he said. The amendment would require character and loyalty checks for civil servants and intelligence personnel prior to
RSS