Threats and conflicts should not influence Taiwan’s future and there is “strong concern” for stability and security in the Indo-Pacific region, British Secretary of State for Defence John Healey said on Tuesday during a meeting at the House of Commons.
Healey made the comments as part of the House of Commons’ update on Ukraine.
“Part of the very strong message that the Chief of the Defence Staff [Admiral Antony Radakin] gave when he visited his counterparts in China [on April 9] is that we see the importance of peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific as a matter not just for those nations in that region, and that the discussion on the future of Taiwan is necessarily one to be conducted by peaceful negotiation rather than by threats and conflict,” Healey said.
Photo: AFP
“There was also a very strong concern that the matter of stability, security and peace continuing in the Indo-Pacific is something of which we want China to be very well aware,” he said.
Radakin’s visit was the first time a high-ranking British military official had visited China since 2015.
The session opened with comments on the departure of the HMS Prince of Wales carrier strike group from Portsmouth, England, for a seven-and-a-half-month deployment to attend Operation Highmast alongside navies from the US, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand.
Photo: AFP
Commodore James Blackmore, Commander of the UK Carrier Strike Group, told the Telegraph in an article published on Tuesday that he did not rule out the possibility the strike group would conduct a freedom of navigation operation through the Taiwan Strait.
“I will deliver whatever mission I am ordered to go and do — that’s my role,” the British daily quoted Blackmore as saying.
Although he did not discuss the specifics of their route, Blackmore told the Telegraph that the Royal Navy had a clear motive for the journey.
“One of the purposes of being in the region is to hold up international order,” the newspaper quoted him as saying. “It’s demonstrating our commitment to that and reassuring our partners and allies. That choice of my routing will be taken by a much more senior government level.”
The HMS Richmond crossed through the Taiwan Strait in September 2021 on its way to Vietnam as a freedom of navigation exercise, with the British government stating at the time that “wherever the Royal Navy operate, they do so in full compliance with international law.”
NETWORK-MAPPING PROJECT: The database contains 170 detailed files of Taiwanese politicians and about 23 million records of household registration data in Taiwan China has developed a network-mapping project targeting political figures and parties in Taiwan to monitor public opinion during elections and to craft tailored influence campaigns aimed at dividing Taiwanese society, according to documents leaked by Chinese technology firm GoLaxy (中科天璣). The documents, collected by Taipei-based Doublethink Lab, showed a database was specifically created to gather detailed information on Taiwanese political figures, including their political affiliations, job histories, birthplaces, residences, education, religion and a brief biography about them. Several notable Taiwanese politicians are in the database, including President William Lai (賴清德), former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍),
RECOGNITION: Former Fijian prime minister Mahendra Chaudhry said that Taiwan’s New Southbound Policy serves as a stabilizing force in the Indo-Pacific region Taiwan can lead the unification of the Chinese people, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and former Polish president Lech Walesa said in Taipei yesterday, adding that as the world order is changing, peaceful discussion would find good solutions, and that the use of force and coercion would always fail. Walesa made the remarks during his keynote address at a luncheon of the Yushan Forum in Taipei, titled “Indo-Pacific Partnership Prospects: Taiwan’s Values, Technology and Resilience,” organized by the Taiwan-Asia Exchange Foundation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Walesa said that he had been at the forefront of a big peaceful revolution and “if
KEY INDUSTRY: The vice premier discussed a plan to create a non-red drone supply chain by next year, which has been allocated a budget of more than NT$7.2 billion The government has budgeted NT$44.2 billion (US$1.38 billion) to cultivate Taiwan’s uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) industry over the next five years, which would make the nation a major player in the industry’s democratic supply chain in the Asia-Pacific region, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday. Cho made the remarks during a visit to the facilities of Cub Elecparts Inc (為升電裝). Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Su-yueh (陳素月) and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Hsieh Yi-fong (謝依鳳) also participated in the trip. Cub Elecparts has transitioned from the automotive industry to the defense industry, which is the top priority among the nation’s
UPGRADED MISSILE: The Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology is reportedly to conduct a live-fire test of the Hsiung Feng III anti-ship missile on Thursday next week The US Army is planning to build new facilities to boost explosives production and strengthen its supply chain, a move aimed at addressing munitions shortages and supporting obligations to partners including Taiwan, Ukraine and Israel, Defense News reported. The army has issued a sources sought notice for a proposed Center of Excellence at the Blue Grass Army Depot in Kentucky, the report said. The facility would serve as a hub within the US industrial base for the production of key military explosives, including research department explosives (RDX) and high melting explosives (HMX), while also supporting research and development of next-generation materials. The proposed
RSS