China criticizes UK MP’s visit to Taiwan, saying it interferes with internal matters
Beijing: China has criticized the visit of a UK MP to Taiwan, saying it is an interference in its internal matters.
Members of the FA Committee arrived on Tuesday and met with high-ranking officials, including Taiwan’s Foreign Minister Joseph Wu.
Taiwan is independent, but China considers it a breakaway region that will eventually unite with it. A controversial visit in August by US presidential candidate Nancy Pelosi angered Beijing.
China responded to the visit by conducting the largest military exercise in the sea around Taiwan and restricting some trade with the island. Ms. Pelosi is the speaker of the US House of Representatives – the second and only female speaker – and is the highest-ranking US politician to visit Taiwan in 25 years.
He said that China could not “stop world leaders or anyone else from visiting Taiwan.” On Thursday, the Embassy of China in the UK said the parliamentary visit to “China’s Taiwan province” took place despite “strong pressure” from Beijing.
“This is a serious violation of China’s one-party principles and a serious interference in China’s internal affairs,” a spokesman said. The statement added that any move undermining China’s interests would receive a “strong response”.
The comments followed British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s speech earlier this week in which he said the so-called “golden period” of relations with China was over. Mr. Sunak said the economic closeness of the past decade was “absurd” – but added that China’s global importance could not be ignored.
“We recognize that China poses a systemic challenge to our interests; a challenge that only gets worse as it moves toward greater governance,” he said. The parliamentary visit is one of many recent incidents that have caused tension in Sino-British relations.
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These include the arrest of a BBC journalist covering protests in China and the involvement of a Chinese diplomat in violence against protesters outside the city’s consulate in Manchester. On Wednesday, China’s ambassador to the UK was summoned to the Foreign Office after the journalist was arrested.
The Foreign Affairs Committee – separate from the government and made up of politicians from various parties – has held discussions with their counterparts in Taiwan on issues such as security. Taiwan’s foreign ministry tweeted that Mr. Wu hosted a party for the British delegation and spoke of “growing authoritarian threats” and “worrisome issues at home and abroad”.
Their visit is part of Britain’s shift in economic and political focus to the Indo-Pacific region, following its departure from the European Union. The committee met with Taiwan Prime Minister Su Tseng-chang on Thursday and is meeting with President Tsai Ing-Wen on Friday.
