As British Representative to Taiwan Ruth Bradley-Jones looked back on her first nine months on the job, she was upbeat about the progress her office had made, but remained focused on two priorities: promoting technology collaboration and tackling “shared security concerns.”
Bradley-Jones, who took up the helm at the British Office Taipei (BOT) in February, said her mission as the UK’s top envoy is to build a vibrant and dynamic relationship with Taiwan.
That mission found expression over the past year in three arrangements signed by the BOT: the Taiwan-UK Enhanced Trade Partnership (ETP) Digital Trade Arrangement, Taiwan-UK ETP Energy and Net Zero Arrangement and Taiwan-UK ETP Investment Arrangement.
Photo: CNA
Bradley-Jones said continuing to foster bilateral cooperation in the tech sector is a key focus during her tenure in the office that serves as the UK’s de facto embassy in Taiwan.
“We all know Taiwan’s tech strengths. What you may not know is the UK is the third-
biggest tech industry in the world, and so I really want to make sure that the UK and Taiwan become top-tier tech partners,” she said.
Aside from emphasizing building research-and-development exchanges between educational institutions in the UK and Taiwan to connect “the UK innovation scene with Taiwan’s tech manufacturing giants,” Bradley-Jones said that another major focus has been to address “shared security concerns” between the two partners, including promoting closer joint efforts to boost cybersecurity, building AI standards, and protecting global supply chains.
Enhancing social resilience to protect democratic values and rights is something both sides are concerned about and should work closely together on, she said, adding that she has seen President William Lai (賴清德) prioritizing a whole-of-society conversation about Taiwan’s resilience and security and that she thinks “Taiwan is making rapid progress to build social resilience.”
Her job is to promote a better understanding of the UK in Taiwan, Bradley-Jones said.
“I feel like Taiwanese are used to looking to Japan and to the US. But the UK is such a great destination, be it for tourism, for study,” she said.
Another area of engagement was strengthened last month, when the UK officially became a full partner of the Global Cooperation and Training Framework (GCTF), a mechanism launched by Taipei and Washington in 2015 that allows Taiwan to share its expertise on the world stage.
The GCTF serves as a platform that allows Taiwan to share its expertise on global issues and contribute alongside global partners, given its exclusion from major international organizations due to Chinese pressure.
Japan, Australia and Canada are full partners of the mechanism.
“The UK absolutely believes in Taiwan’s ability and space to engage with international organizations,” she said, reiterating that the UK supports Taipei’s international participation “as a member where statehood is not required, and as an observer where it is.”
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