Taiwan set for UK backing in anger at China
TAIWAN could be formally recognised by the UK and its allies within the next five years.
As the row over China’s role in the pandemic continues there is increasing anger over how the communist regime has treated Hong Kong and is now threatening Taiwan.
A Whitehall source told the Sunday Express “don’t be surprised if we end up recognising Taiwan and joining others in defending it with military assets”.
Due to China’s objections Taiwan is not officially recognised and only has an unofficial embassy in the UK.
Moves to support the state have been welcomed by senior Tory MPS who are actively lobbying for change.
Romford MP Andrew Rosindell, who is a member of the British-taiwanese all-party parliamentary group, said: “We cannot let the Chinese communist regime attack and overwhelm Taiwan. It is a beacon of Western democracy in that part of the world and we and our allies must defend it.”
North West Leicestershire MP Andrew Bridgen said: “Things are changing in terms of our relationship with China and that includes supporting Taiwan.”
Mr Bridgen has also joined MPS from all parties backing the Government in welcoming residents of Hong Kong.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab confirmed the revelation in last week’s Sunday Express that 300,000 Hong Kong residents with British overseas passports will be allowed to move to the UK.
Lib Dem Orkney MP Alistair Carmichael, chairman of the allparty group for Hong Kong, said: “The Government needs to move quickly on this. It will send a clear and strong message to Beijing.”
Last night experts predicted that Britain may officially recognise Taiwan’s sovereignty “within just five years”.
But there are many ways the UK can support Taipei before that “nuclear option”.
These include straightforward changes, such as giving Taiwanese diplomats full status, to using Britain’s expanded diplomatic footprint in the South China Sea as a way of helping to check Chinese expansion and bolstering support for the island state’s sovereignty.
Last year Taiwanese president Tsai Ing-wen, re-elected three weeks ago on a robust pro-sovereignty platform, told a British delegation that she wanted the UK to supply submarine components. The revelations on
Tuesday that Beijing planned for the first time to deploy both its aircraft carriers for war games to rehearse an assault on the Taiwan-controlled Dongsha Island shows why.
James Rogers, at the Henry Jackson Society think tank, said: “Britain’s official recognition of Taiwan depends on the speed at which China continues to move along its present revisionist authoritarian path, but it could happen much sooner than people think – within five years – because there is little indication that China will change.”
Around 300 UK firms are involved in Taiwan, including HSBC, GSK, Astrazeneca and BP, accounting for a £10billion investment. Britain has already decided to risk Beijing’s wrath by pushing ahead with a trade deal as Taipei looks to reduce its reliance on China.
Mr Rogers confirmed that President Tsai made a direct appeal for submarine components during a visit by British delegates last year. While British defence firms only manufacture nuclear submarines, which Taiwan doesn’t operate, “there is a feeling that UK expertise could play a vital role in the future”, he said.
But Mr Rogers warned that if President Xi Jinping of China is clever he could see off a threat. He said: “There are many, such as academics in certain universities here, who have become reliant on China’s good will and business interests.
“He would only need to offer debt relief to a select handful of countries for his skilful propaganda machine to push the message that China was serious about reform.”
But this is unlikely to happen, argues John Hemmings, of the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He said: “Since his first speech after coming to power Xi has made his three ambitions clear: the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, moving China to the centre of global events and Chinese unification by 2049, the hundredth anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic.
“But Xi’s promises that Taiwan would benefit from a ‘one nation, two systems policy’ have been laid bare by his actions in Hong Kong.
“China doesn’t strategise to an outcome.they have an outcome and strategise backwards. His message has been consistent.”
‘It is a beacon of Western democracy and we must defend it’