Top UK lawmaker discusses 'defense cooperation' during Taiwan visit
A senior British lawmaker says her delegation discussed military cooperation with Taiwan during a visit to the self-ruled island earlier this week that China denounced as “blatant interference”.
Britain, like many other Western countries, has no formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan but has increased its diplomatic and military support for the island in recent years amid growing tensions with Beijing.
Alicia Kearns, the Head of the British Parliament's Foreign Relations Committee, spoke to reporters after meeting Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen.
“We talked about the joint cyber threats that we all face from different adversaries, we discussed disinformation, and of course, we discussed conventional military conflict,” she said.
“And we talked about how we as an international community work together to prevent, and therefore the importance of deterrence diplomacy. And, yes, defense cooperation was discussed as part of that because it should be part of a whole conversation that takes place.”
While the United States continues to be Taiwan's most important foreign source of military armaments, British companies have been involved in the development of a new fleet of Taiwanese-made submarines.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on Monday that the "golden era" of relations with China was over as Beijing's systematic challenges to British interests and values were increasing every day.
The Chinese embassy in London, in a statement on Thursday, condemned the visit of the British delegation as "blatant interference" in China's internal affairs.
“In disregard of China’s firm opposition,” said an unnamed spokesperson for the embassy, “the relevant UK MPs went ahead with their visit to the Taiwan region of China.”
It said Taiwan is “an inalienable part of China’s territory, and the Taiwan question is purely China’s internal affair.”
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