UK lawmakers refer to Taiwan as ‘an independent country’ in panel report

A powerful panel of British lawmakers has described Taiwan as “an independent country” that “possesses all the qualifications for statehood”, in a move that is sure to draw the ire of Beijing.

The parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee made the reference in a report on the Indo-Pacific released on Wednesday, as Britain’s foreign secretary was meeting top-level Chinese officials in Beijing for the first time in five years.

“Taiwan is already an independent country, under the name Republic of China (ROC). Taiwan, 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,” read the report, steered by the committee’s chair Alicia Kearns.

Alicia Kearns, chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee. Photo: Reuters

The report encouraged a more assertive British policy towards China, describing the “activities of the Chinese Communist Party as a threat to the UK and its interests”.

It accused the government of operating a “muddled” China strategy, exemplified by the “half-hearted sanctions announced in March 2021” over Xinjiang, when “nobody of real seniority was held accountable”, in reference to British sanctions on mid-ranking Chinese officials in the western region in which they are accused of human rights violations.

Beijing sees Taiwan as a breakaway province to be taken back by force if necessary. Most governments, including the US and the UK, do not see Taiwan as an independent state but many are opposed to change of status quo by force.

The potentially embarrassing paper urged Foreign Secretary James Cleverly and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to release an unclassified version of their China strategy and to expand cooperation with Taiwan.

“While it is understandable that the government does not publish a complete policy towards the PRC because awareness by the CCP of some of its military or trade competitor strategies would undermine the effectiveness of the strategy, the failure to outline clear foreign policy, let alone a cross-government stance towards China, makes it difficult for that strategy to be complied with by both state and non-state actors, including civil servants, academics and businesses,” the report read.

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It comes amid a period of rapprochement between Britain and China, in which the Sunak government is trying to stabilise ties that have nose-dived under successive short-lived British governments.

Cleverly’s one-day trip, during which he met Vice-President Han Zheng and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, could lead to a meeting between Sunak and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Group of 20 summit in India next month, UK media reported.

Kearns told Politico that “we acknowledge China’s position, but we do not accept it”.

“It is imperative the foreign secretary steadfastly and vocally stand by Taiwan and make clear we will uphold Taiwan’s right to self-determination,” she said.

The paper was highly critical of Beijing’s policies on Hong Kong, describing the passing of the national security law as “a particularly egregious and blatant instance” of “transnational repression as a form of foreign policy” that is being applied to critics of the regime overseas.

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It lashed out at the attack on demonstrators outside the Chinese consulate in Manchester, in October 2022, as “a sustained attempt by the PRC to intimidate expats and dissidents from China and Hong Kong living abroad into refraining from holding or expressing certain views or beliefs”.

In response, the report said, the “UK must work with allies to proactively communicate to the PRC that such a policy is unacceptable”.

“The government should work to raise this issue at international fora, and in conversations when engaging directly with the Chinese government,” it continued.

It seemed to have no immediate impact on Cleverly’s appointments in China. Han, the vice-president, said the visit would “further promote the sound and stable development of bilateral relations between China and the UK”.

“As we discussed, it is important that countries like ours need to speak face to face on regular occasions to enhance understanding, to avoid misunderstanding and to address the challenges and differences of opinion that all countries have on bilateral relations, but also to take advantage of our shared endeavours to address the issues that affect our world, and our respective peoples,” he added.

South China Morning Post