The UK would pressure China to respect freedom of navigation in the Taiwan Strait, British Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs David Cameron told the British parliament on Tuesday, adding that London has asked Beijing to hold talks on the matter.
He made the remark during a session at the House of Lords, when British politician David Alton asked him about London’s China deterrence policy, beyond its involvement in the AUKUS security pact between Australia, the UK and the US.
A war over Taiwan would cause US$10 trillion in losses to the global economy, a sum equivalent to 10 percent of the world’s GDP, Alton said, citing Bloomberg Economics.
Photo: AFP
China should join the UK in supporting freedom of navigation, as the two nations are reliant on international trade, Cameron said, adding that this freedom is important in every region of the world, including the Taiwan Strait.
The UK should try to find common ground with China, despite the differences that exist between the two sides and the epoch-defining challenge Beijing poses to British interests, Cameron said.
The UK has shown commitment to upholding freedom of navigation by conductng joint strikes with the US on Houthi forces in the Red Sea, which accounts for 15 percent of global maritime traffic, he said.
In January, a Houthi spokesperson was cited as saying by a Moscow-backed outlet that Houthi forces would not attack Chinese and Russian ships in the region.
Cameron, a former British prime minister, met Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) in December last year, just a month after being tapped as the British foreign secretary in a Cabinet reshuffle by British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
Separately, the Guardian said in a report yesterday that Cameron is expected to meet Wang this weekend, citing two anonymous government sources.
The meeting would take place on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, the Guardian said.
The British Foreign Office has not confirmed the report, stating only that Cameron would visit Poland and Bulgaria before taking part in the Munich event.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it is expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong this afternoon and a land warning tomorrow. As of 1pm, the storm was about 1,070km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, and was moving west-northwest at 28 to 32kph, according to CWA data. The storm had a radius of 250km, with maximum sustained winds of 173kph and gusts reaching 209kph, the CWA added. The storm is forecast to pass near Luzon in the Philippines before entering the South China Sea and potentially turning northward toward Taiwan, the CWA said. CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張峻堯) said
PREPARATION: Ferry lines and flights were canceled ahead of only the second storm to hit the nation in November, while many areas canceled classes and work Authorities yesterday evacuated more than 3,000 people ahead of approaching Tropical Storm Fung-wong, which is expected to make landfall between Kaohsiung and Pingtung County this evening. Fung-wong was yesterday morning downgraded from a typhoon to a tropical storm as it approached the nation’s southwest coast, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, as it issued a land alert for the storm. The alert applies to residents in Tainan, Kaohsiung, Pingtung and Taitung counties, and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春). As of press time last night, Taichung, Tainan, Kaohsiung, and Yilan, Miaoli, Changhua, Yunlin, Pingtung and Penghu counties, as well as Chiayi city and county had
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday issued a sea alert for Typhoon Fung-wong (鳳凰) as it threatened vessels operating in waters off the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島), the Bashi Channel and south of the Taiwan Strait. A land alert is expected to be announced some time between late last night and early this morning, the CWA said. As of press time last night, Taoyuan, as well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties had declared today a typhoon day, canceling work and classes. Except for a few select districts in Taipei and New Taipei City, all other areas and city
VIOLATION OF NORMS: China’s CCTV broadcast claimed that Beijing could use Interpol to issue arrest warrants, which the MAC slammed as an affront to order The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday condemned the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for attempts to intimidate Taiwanese through “transnational repression.” The council issued the remarks after state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) yesterday during a news broadcast aired a video targeting Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Puma Shen (沈伯洋), threatening him with “cross-border repression” and saying: “Stop now, or you will be next,” in what Taipei officials said was an attempt to intimidate not only Shen, but also the broader Taiwanese public. The MAC in a statement condemned the threat, accusing Beijing of trying to instill fear and self-censorship among Taiwanese and
RSS