China in attack on ‘dangerous’ Truss speech

CHINA called Liz Truss’s Taiwan visit a “dangerous political show” yesterday, as the former PM urged the West to reduce its “dependence” on Beijing.

In a speech in Taipei City, Ms Truss said allies must learn from the world fallout of Russia’s Ukraine invasion by preparing for sanctions against China over its aggressive stance towards Taiwan.

Taiwan and China split in 1949 after a civil war that ended with the Communist Party controlling the mainland.

Pain

The island has never been part of the People’s Republic of China, but Beijing says it must unite – by force if necessary.

Ms Truss told the Prospect Foundation think-tank the West must “reduce dependence on China in all spheres”.

She said: “If Beijing keeps its word and escalates aggression towards Taiwan, substantial decoupling will be unavoidable.

“If we fail to prepare for this, the consequent economic pain will be felt by all of our people across the free world.” Ms Truss also argued against working with China on global issues like climate change, warning totalitarian regimes “don’t tell the truth”.

The UK’s Chinese embassy urged her to stop defending Taiwanese independence or “further expose herself as a failed politician and get more backlash from the Chinese people”.

A spokesman said: “Liz Truss’s recent visit to Taiwan is a dangerous political show which will do nothing but harm to the UK.

“Any violation of the one-China principle will have serious consequences for China-UK relations.”

Last year, Beijing mounted a naval and air force blockade after a visit to Taiwan by the then-US House of Representatives speaker, Nancy Pelosi.