UK parliament calls Taiwan ‘independent country’ as Cleverly visits China

The British Parliament has for the first time referred to Taiwan as an “independent country” in an official document, breaking a political taboo as Foreign Secretary James Cleverly visits China this week.

The new language, adopted in a report published on Wednesday by the influential House of Commons foreign affairs committee, risks a harsh reaction from Beijing and comes as Cleverly becomes the first senior British envoy to visiting Beijing in five years in the midst of an icy relationship.

Beijing has long denied Taiwan’s statehood, insisting that the democratic and self-governing island is part of its territory. Only 13 countries around the world diplomatically recognize Taipei instead of Beijing.

“Taiwan is already an independent country, under the name of the Republic of China,” the committee report said. “Taiwan has all the requisites for a state, including a permanent population, a defined territory, a government, and the ability to engage in relations with other states; it just lacks greater international recognition.”

According to the chair of the committee, Alicia Kearns, of the ruling Conservative Party, it is the first time that a report from the UK parliament has made such a statement. “We recognize China’s position, but we as (the foreign affairs committee) don’t accept it,” Kearns told POLITICO. “It is imperative that the Foreign Secretary stand firmly and openly in support of Taiwan and make it clear that we will uphold Taiwan’s right to self-determination.”

“This commitment is not only in line with British values ​​but also serves as a poignant message to autocratic regimes around the world that sovereignty cannot be achieved through violence or coercion,” Kearns added.

The committee report criticizes the government for not being bold enough in supporting Taiwan, and calls on officials to begin preparing sanctions with allies to deter military action and Beijing’s economic blockade of the 90 percent-supplying island. percent of the world’s most advanced semiconductors.

“The UK could seek closer relations with Taiwan if it were not too cautious about offending the (Chinese Communist Party),” the committee said. “The UK should ease self-imposed restrictions on who can interact with Taiwanese officials. The United States and Japan have shown that communication is possible even at the highest level.”

London should also work with Tokyo and Taipei for trilateral cooperation on cyber and space defense capabilities, he said.

On Taiwan’s attempt to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), of which Great Britain is a new memberthe committee urged the government to campaign for the admission of Taiwan.

Meanwhile, the report also criticizes the British government for keeping its China strategy secret.

“Given Germany’s publication of a China strategy, it is clear that the UK government may publish a public, unclassified version, which would give the public and private sectors the guidance they are seeking,” he said.

Whitehall, he said, should get tougher on “transnational repression” of China on British soil, such as sanctioning UK lawmakers or harassing dissidents.

Smartly “he must be adamant that the defense is not an escalation and that the UK will stand its ground and take action against any transnational enforcement efforts,” Kearns said.

The government of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has stopped dead not to define China as a broad “threat”, but to present it as an “epoch-defining and systemic challenge”.