UK parliamentary report recognizes Taiwan as an independent country.

British Lawmakers Call ‌for Stronger Diplomatic Ties with⁤ Taiwan

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak should back diplomatic ⁣visits “inward and outward with Taiwan,” according to British lawmakers who regard ‌the island democracy‌ as “an independent country” despite Chinese Communist ambitions to⁤ rule it.

“Taiwan is already an independent country, under ⁤the name Republic of China (ROC),” the British Parliament’s primary foreign affairs ‌committee declared in a new report on the United Kingdom’s Indo-Pacific policy. “Taiwan possesses all the qualifications for⁢ statehood, including a permanent population, a defined territory, government, and the capacity to enter into relations with other states — it is only lacking greater international recognition.”

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Taiwan holds ‍that ambiguous ⁤status in world affairs because the Chinese Communist regime has vowed to ⁢subjugate the island and will not have diplomatic relations with any country that treats Taiwan as an independent state. The unveiling of the report ‌drew a rebuke from the Chinese Foreign Ministry, in tandem with British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly’s arrival in Beijing for meetings with Chinese officials.

“The relevant report of the British parliament‌ blatantly⁢ referred to Taiwan as ‘an independent country,’ ⁢which distorts the facts and⁣ is totally misleading,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said Wednesday. “We ‍urge the relevant committee of the British parliament to abide by the one-China principle, observe international law and⁤ the norms governing international relations,‌ respect China’s core interests, stop sending wrong‌ signals to ‘Taiwan independence’ separatist ⁣forces, take concrete actions to fulfill‌ the U.K.’s political commitments on the Taiwan question and maintain the sound and⁢ steady growth of the⁤ China-UK relations.”

Taiwan is the last bastion of the nationalist Republic of China government overthrown ‌during the Chinese Communist‍ Revolution. The ousted Chinese rulers were allies of the United States during the Second World War. U.S. ‍officials cut formal ties with Taipei in order​ to open an embassy in Beijing⁤ during the height of the Cold War, ⁣but Congress intervened to require the ⁢federal government to maintain friendly unofficial ties to Taiwan and to ‍aid Taiwanese forces in⁤ deterring a potential invasion.

“It is imperative the foreign secretary steadfastly ⁣and vocally stand ​by Taiwan and make clear we will uphold Taiwan’s right to self-determination,” senior British lawmaker Alicia Kearns, who chairs the committee that produced the report, told Politico’s Europe ⁢affiliate. “This commitment aligns‍ not only with British values but also serves as a poignant ​message to autocratic regimes worldwide that sovereignty cannot be attained through violence or coercion.”

The report emphasized that British governments long have refused to endorse⁢ Beijing’s “one-China principle” in​ favor of “acknowledging” Beijing’s assertion “without declaring adherence to it.” Yet Cleverly, for⁤ his part, downplayed the significance of the ⁤parliamentary overview.

“That report is produced⁤ by a cross-party committee that scrutinizes the U.K. government; that is not a U.K. government document,” the foreign secretary⁤ told Bloomberg during an ‌interview in Beijing. “The U.K. ​government’s position has remained consistent — that there should be no unilateral change⁣ to the⁣ status quo, that ⁣any changes should be done through discussion on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.”

Kearns and her colleagues noted that “there is general agreement among witnesses⁢ that a Chinese ⁤invasion ⁤of Taiwan is not inevitable, but is a last resort.” And they acknowledged, also, the​ risk that an⁤ errant foreign political gesture to Taiwan could persuade Chinese ⁤General Secretary Xi Jinping that war is necessary.

“The Committee is very alert to the importance of preventing Xi Jinping from deciding that conflict over‌ Taiwan⁢ is inevitable,” the report said. “Equally, caution is needed to ensure efforts to defend Taiwan’s right to self-determination do not force an outcome ⁣in which the ‍CCP cannot decide not to invade Taiwan, for fear of this being misrepresented ⁣as a loss for the CCP, rather ‌than a decision to respect the rules-based⁣ order.”

The parliamentary report, which called for ministerial visits⁣ to Taiwan on matters of ‍education, science, and trade, echoed Cleverly’s opposition to “unilateral attempts to change the status quo” but also ascribed ⁤to British leaders a habit of⁤ curtailing their engagement with Taiwan out of excessive deference to the Chinese Communist Party’s preferences.

“The ‍UK could pursue closer relations with Taiwan if it were not over-cautious about offending the CCP,” the report ⁣suggested. “The practice of‌ appointing UK representatives to Taiwan who ⁢have extensive experience ⁣of working in China may be counterproductive because they may be over-sensitized to potential opposition to their actions from the Chinese government.”