Former UK PM Truss calls for tougher China policy in first speech since resigning
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Former British prime minister Liz Truss spoke of her regret that Western countries were not quicker and tougher in their actions against Moscow.
PHOTO: REUTERS
TOKYO – Former British prime minister Liz Truss on Friday called for the international community to build Taiwan’s defences and agree on a package of coordinated defensive, economic and political measures in support of the island “before it is too late”.
In her first speech since being forced out of office in 2022,
“Our governments must signal to the PRC that military aggression towards Taiwan would be a strategic mistake,” Ms Truss said.
She spoke of her regret that Western countries were not quicker and tougher in their actions against Moscow when Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 in what it calls a “special military operation”.
“When it comes to China, a failure to act now could cost us dearly in the long run,” she said.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is facing pressure from some within his party to reclassify China as a “threat” instead of a “systemic competitor” in an update to the government’s defence and foreign policy strategy, which is expected to be published in March.
Mr Sunak in 2022 called for “robust pragmatism” with China and emphasised the need to engage with Beijing, prompting concern from some within his party that he will adopt a softer approach to relations than his predecessor.
Ms Truss appeared at the conference in Tokyo alongside two other former prime ministers, Australia’s Scott Morrison and Belgium’s Guy Verhofstadt.
She called for a number of policies against China, including building a more developed Pacific defence alliance and deepening economic integration with Taiwan to prevent conflict, and said Britain’s decision to grant a pomp-laden state visit to President Xi Jinping in 2015 was a mistake.
“People don’t want to believe the worst will happen… That is part of what we are seeing with China,” Ms Truss said, before posing for photos with Taiwanese lawmaker Freddy Lim, who was also speaking at the event. REUTERS
