David Spencer is co-founder and Chief Executive of the Taiwan Policy Centre.
As the free world came together to mark and mourn the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, there were very few countries willing to offer any support to Putin’s illegal war.
But an important one that does is the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The PRC abstained from a UN Resolution vote calling for Russia to leave Ukraine and there is mounting speculation that they are about to start supplying Putin with weapons and ammunition.
NATO and others have warned China against this move. But – in keeping with our usual stance on the PRC’s malign influence on global affairs – the UK Government and the Foreign Office have remained conspicuously quiet.
In contrast to this, Liz Truss, the former Prime Minister, was anything but quiet on the PRC in her first major policy speech since leaving Downing Street.
Truss’s speech to the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) Symposium in Japan on February 17th offered a level of realism about our policies towards the People’s Republic of China (PRC) that was hugely refreshing.
She rightly classified the PRC as a threat to the UK, condemned the naivety of the so-called ‘Golden Era’ of Sino-British relations during the Cameron years, and accurately outlined the PRC’s unilateral escalation of hostilities with free and democratic Taiwan.
Indeed, it was Taiwan – a country that UK Government ministers are usually afraid to even name-check – that was the focus of her speech. Truss said:
“Taiwan is a beacon of freedom in the world… It is a flourishing democracy with a thriving free press and independent judiciary… We should be doing all we can to strengthen our ties with Taiwan. We know that doing more now will help prevent tragedy later.”
With hindsight, it is clear, she goes on to explain, that the UK and our democratic allies could have done more to support Ukraine earlier and perhaps cut off Russia’s brutal invasion before it had even started. Lessons must be learned when it comes to Taiwan, just as the Taiwan Policy Centre noted in Ukraine Today, Taiwan Tomorrow, our report last year.
The importance of protecting Taiwan from the threat of a PRC invasion cannot be understated. As well as the humanitarian costs an invasion would have on Taiwan’s 23 million people, the global economic impact would be measured in the trillions and have a seismic impact on the lives of every single person in the UK and around the world.
With Ukraine, we waited until it is too late. The consequences of that choice have been felt in higher fuel and food prices as well as Ukrainian lives lost. With Taiwan, we have a chance to act now and prevent such carnage. So, what can we do differently?
Truss proffered some solutions in her speech. She called for closer defence and economic ties, suggesting the formation of what she called an ‘Economic NATO’ to use the democratic world’s collective economic strength to deter a PRC invasion of Taiwan, as well as its attempts to spread its communist ideology around the world through the Belt and Road initiative.
She also called for the international community to agree “a package of coordinated defence, economic, and political measures to support Taiwan now.”
Her suggestions are spot on and it is little wonder that Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs have welcomed her suggestions. A cynic might suggest that it’s all very well for Truss to suggest this now. Why didn’t she do more to action this while she was Foreign Secretary or Prime Minister?
But those of us who deal in UK-Taiwan relations will know how reticent the Foreign Office is to rock the boat with the PRC in any way. This has been graphicly illustrated in its failure to condemn the prospect of the PRC arming Russia, despite all of the support we have shown to Ukraine.
The truth is that, as Foreign Secretary, Truss did advocate ensuring Taiwan was able to defend itself. As Prime Minister, she initiated a reassessment of the Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development, and Foreign Policy, in which the issue of Taiwan was conspicuous by its absence.
These steps alone are further than any recent predecessors have gone and it is to her enormous credit that she is now saying all the right things on the backbenches.
Some media coverage interprets such interventions as attempts to undermine the new Prime Minister. A kinder interpretation is to see it as Truss using her position to encourage the Sunak administration to do the right thing.
Sunak must learn from his predecessor. If the PRC does arm Russia, it will be responsible for the loss of countless more innocent Ukrainian lives at the hands of a brutal, hostile, and illegal invasion. The Prime Minister must condemn this in the strongest terms.
Now is the right time for him to also help ensure that the PRC is not tempted to follow Putin’s path when it comes to Taiwan. His predecessor’s proposals offer an opportunity for Britain to take advantage of the Brexit freedoms he fought for to show some leadership in international affairs. They also offer an agenda around which the Prime Minister can unite Conservatives.
The big question now is whether Sunak has the fortitude to stand up to pressures from the PRC and the Foreign Office, and do the right thing for Taiwan and Ukraine. The consequences of getting this wrong could have devasting implications for us all.
David Spencer is co-founder and Chief Executive of the Taiwan Policy Centre.
As the free world came together to mark and mourn the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, there were very few countries willing to offer any support to Putin’s illegal war.
But an important one that does is the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The PRC abstained from a UN Resolution vote calling for Russia to leave Ukraine and there is mounting speculation that they are about to start supplying Putin with weapons and ammunition.
NATO and others have warned China against this move. But – in keeping with our usual stance on the PRC’s malign influence on global affairs – the UK Government and the Foreign Office have remained conspicuously quiet.
In contrast to this, Liz Truss, the former Prime Minister, was anything but quiet on the PRC in her first major policy speech since leaving Downing Street.
Truss’s speech to the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) Symposium in Japan on February 17th offered a level of realism about our policies towards the People’s Republic of China (PRC) that was hugely refreshing.
She rightly classified the PRC as a threat to the UK, condemned the naivety of the so-called ‘Golden Era’ of Sino-British relations during the Cameron years, and accurately outlined the PRC’s unilateral escalation of hostilities with free and democratic Taiwan.
Indeed, it was Taiwan – a country that UK Government ministers are usually afraid to even name-check – that was the focus of her speech. Truss said:
“Taiwan is a beacon of freedom in the world… It is a flourishing democracy with a thriving free press and independent judiciary… We should be doing all we can to strengthen our ties with Taiwan. We know that doing more now will help prevent tragedy later.”
With hindsight, it is clear, she goes on to explain, that the UK and our democratic allies could have done more to support Ukraine earlier and perhaps cut off Russia’s brutal invasion before it had even started. Lessons must be learned when it comes to Taiwan, just as the Taiwan Policy Centre noted in Ukraine Today, Taiwan Tomorrow, our report last year.
The importance of protecting Taiwan from the threat of a PRC invasion cannot be understated. As well as the humanitarian costs an invasion would have on Taiwan’s 23 million people, the global economic impact would be measured in the trillions and have a seismic impact on the lives of every single person in the UK and around the world.
With Ukraine, we waited until it is too late. The consequences of that choice have been felt in higher fuel and food prices as well as Ukrainian lives lost. With Taiwan, we have a chance to act now and prevent such carnage. So, what can we do differently?
Truss proffered some solutions in her speech. She called for closer defence and economic ties, suggesting the formation of what she called an ‘Economic NATO’ to use the democratic world’s collective economic strength to deter a PRC invasion of Taiwan, as well as its attempts to spread its communist ideology around the world through the Belt and Road initiative.
She also called for the international community to agree “a package of coordinated defence, economic, and political measures to support Taiwan now.”
Her suggestions are spot on and it is little wonder that Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs have welcomed her suggestions. A cynic might suggest that it’s all very well for Truss to suggest this now. Why didn’t she do more to action this while she was Foreign Secretary or Prime Minister?
But those of us who deal in UK-Taiwan relations will know how reticent the Foreign Office is to rock the boat with the PRC in any way. This has been graphicly illustrated in its failure to condemn the prospect of the PRC arming Russia, despite all of the support we have shown to Ukraine.
The truth is that, as Foreign Secretary, Truss did advocate ensuring Taiwan was able to defend itself. As Prime Minister, she initiated a reassessment of the Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development, and Foreign Policy, in which the issue of Taiwan was conspicuous by its absence.
These steps alone are further than any recent predecessors have gone and it is to her enormous credit that she is now saying all the right things on the backbenches.
Some media coverage interprets such interventions as attempts to undermine the new Prime Minister. A kinder interpretation is to see it as Truss using her position to encourage the Sunak administration to do the right thing.
Sunak must learn from his predecessor. If the PRC does arm Russia, it will be responsible for the loss of countless more innocent Ukrainian lives at the hands of a brutal, hostile, and illegal invasion. The Prime Minister must condemn this in the strongest terms.
Now is the right time for him to also help ensure that the PRC is not tempted to follow Putin’s path when it comes to Taiwan. His predecessor’s proposals offer an opportunity for Britain to take advantage of the Brexit freedoms he fought for to show some leadership in international affairs. They also offer an agenda around which the Prime Minister can unite Conservatives.
The big question now is whether Sunak has the fortitude to stand up to pressures from the PRC and the Foreign Office, and do the right thing for Taiwan and Ukraine. The consequences of getting this wrong could have devasting implications for us all.