It is known that the UK does not have the same position as the US has on the Taiwan situation when it comes to China as we recently saw that the current UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak mentioned a few things in his speech that were not liked by the Taiwanese politicians. However, we now have reports that the former UK Prime Minister Liz Truss is going to visit Taiwan next week in a move that could be a big trip for her politically. Her office, in a statement, said that Truss “will use a speech to build on remarks made in recent weeks that Western democracies should toughen their stance on China”.
She also said in her own statement that “I’m looking forward to showing solidarity with the Taiwanese people in person in the face of increasingly aggressive behavior and rhetoric from the regime in Beijing,”. Truss also described Taiwan as the “beacon of freedom and democracy.” It is worth noting that while UK’s current Premier Rishi Sunak has pledged to support Taiwan, he has also decided to trade with China in the benefit of his nation. On the other hand, Liz Truss resigned as the PM of UK after just six weeks because of her policies that took the pound to its lowest levels yet and also created havoc in the bond market.
It is worth noting that Liz Truss’s trip to Taiwan will be full of politics as she will be directly opposing the Chinese Government in her statement which will put her in the bad books of China and could also harm her potential re-entry into the UK politics if the public does not agree to her views on the China-Taiwan matter. Also, we have just heard that the UK Foreign Secretary will visit China and become the first Foreign Secretary in last five years to visit the second-largest country in the world in terms of population. Liz Truss’s visit to Taiwan will be seen as a symbolic trip to support Taiwan against China as the UK is currently interested in doing business with China rather than Taiwan.
