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In a controversial trip to Taiwan, Liz Truss, Britain’s prime minister for 44 days, met with President Tsai Ing-wen on Friday and called for an “economic NATO” to counter Chinese coercion.
Ms Truss’s visit was condemned by Beijing, which claims the self-governing island as its territory. China opposes visits to Taiwan by foreign politicians, even those who fall like Ms. Truss, who resigned last year after the shortest tenure of a British prime minister. And even some members of the Conservative Party Ms. Truss herself suggested her trip was unnecessarily provocative – “the worst kind of Instagram diplomacy,” one said.
The Taiwanese government still considers the five-day visit of Ms. Truss is a small but welcome request in the face of Beijing’s political isolation of the island democracy. Taiwan currently has only 13 official diplomatic partners – most countries have switched recognition to Beijing – and Taiwan has increasingly reached out to foreign parliamentarians, think tanks and organizations to improve its global status.
“Taiwan and the UK are equal partners,” said Ms. Tsai told Truss when they met at Taiwan’s presidential office. “Together we work to advance freedom and democracy around the world.”
As she has done before, Ms. Truss said during a meeting with Tsai that countries should join together and form an “economic NATO”: a bloc united against coercion by China and other authoritarian governments. China has often used economic retaliation in diplomatic disputes with other countries, imposing punitive tariffs and informal embargoes on Australia, Norway, South Korea and other countries. (Beijing also faces trade and technology restrictions imposed by the United States and its allies.)
“What we have achieved in Taiwan must be protected, and the international community and international free democracies must support you in your efforts,” Ms Truss told Tsai.
The Chinese Embassy in the UK, in a statement on Wednesday called Ms Truss’s visit “a dangerous political event.” While China’s explanation for the trip, which ended on Saturday, is still to be seen, it seems that it will not go beyond angry words.
Last year, China launched large-scale military exercises near Taiwan after Nancy Pelosi, then the speaker of the US House of Representatives, visited Taipei. But Britain is no less important than the United States in supporting Taiwan. As Speaker of the House, Ms. Pelosi has a strong role in policymaking in Washington; by contrast, Ms. Truss was unceremoniously pushed from power.
China’s leader, Xi Jinping, has also focused this year on improving relations with European countries, including Britain, as he tries to thwart the Biden administration’s efforts to build an international coalition against Beijing.
The last former British prime minister to visit Taiwan was political idol Ms. Truss, Margaret Thatcher, in 1992. Taiwan is willing to remember the British statement about Ms. Truss, said Chen Fang-yu, an assistant professor of politics at Soochow University in Taipei.
“Taiwan really needs more attention from every country, because only if more people visit Taiwan and talk more about Taiwan, the Chinese Communist Party will understand that many people are paying attention to Taiwan, so they should not act quickly,” he said in interview.
This week, Taiwan also launched international support to join the World Health Organization and attend the World Health Assembly that opened on Sunday. Taiwan was an observer in the organization from 2009 to 2016, but China blocked its participation after Ms. Tsai was elected president.
And on Thursday, the Biden administration reaffirmed US support for Taiwan by announcing that it had reached the first agreement in a trade initiative that began last year. The agreement will reduce red tape for companies shipping goods between the two and promote trade by small businesses.
Ms Truss’s trip also comes as Taiwan prepares to hold presidential elections in January, when voters will elect a replacement for Ms Tsai, who has to step down.
On Thursday, Ms. Truss met Lai Ching-te, Taiwan’s vice president, who is the presidential candidate of Ms. Tsai’s Democratic Progressive Party. The party likes to emphasize Taiwan’s separation from China, and its official platform calls for Taiwan to be “a sovereign, independent and autonomous country,” a goal that is anathema to Beijing. Mr Lai used his meeting with Ms Truss on Thursday to amplify his message of standing tall against Chinese pressure.
But Alexander C. Huang, a professor at Tamkang University in Taipei who advises Taiwan’s opposition Nationalist Party, said the Nationalists would also welcome guests like Ms. Truss. The Nationalists have managed to establish a more stable relationship with China, while keeping Taiwan close to the United States and its allies. The Nationalists anointed their presidential candidate, Hou Yu-ih, this week.
“Taiwan has no influence on the domestic problems of friendly countries,” Mr. Huang said, referring to Britain. “We just want to have more international attention and visibility.”
John Liu contributed reports from Seoul.
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