Foreign Minister Jaushieh Joseph Wu hosted a banquet for a seven-member delegation from the U.K. House of Commons Nov. 30 in Taipei City, reaffirming government commitment to expanding bilateral ties.
Led by Alicia Kearns, chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, and comprising lawmakers Royston Smith, Liam Byrne, Stewart Malcolm McDonald and Neil Coyle, the cross-party group’s visit from Nov. 29 to Dec. 3 aims to deepen strategic cooperation in key areas.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, this is the first U.K. parliamentary delegation to visit Taiwan since the implementation of pandemic border control policies nearly three years ago.
During his remarks, Wu said the government and people of Taiwan sincerely welcomed the group’s visit and supported the tilt toward the Indo-Pacific laid out in the Integrated Review published by the British government in 2021.
According to Wu, Taiwan is strategically situated in the Indo-Pacific, a hub of both geopolitics and the global economy, which is traversed by some of the world’s most important maritime routes.
Citing recent remarks by U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and other senior officials, Wu said maintaining cross-strait peace and stability has a huge bearing on Indo-Pacific security and prosperity.
Given recent political developments, Wu said Taiwan will continue to work with its like-minded partners including the U.K. to counteract authoritarian expansionism.
In response, Kearns said despite their vast geographic distance, the U.K. and Taiwan are bound closely together by the same values of freedom, democracy and respect for human rights. The visit underscores commitment to expanding cooperation with Taiwan in areas such as net zero carbon emissions, semiconductors and supply chain resilience.
Taiwan is not alone in the global community, Kearns said, adding that the British parliament will continue to support Taiwan. (SFC-E)
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