A cross-party group of British MPs have urged the government to approve arms sales to Taiwan — despite not officially recognizing the breakaway Chinese province's independence.
The delegation from the British-Taiwanese All-Party Parliamentary Group was led by Bob Stewart, the Conservative member for Beckenham. Stewart declared that Taiwan was "on the front line of democracy, and autocracy."
"Taiwan is a crucial country for the West," Stewart said. "The more that politicians in Europe and U.S. and Canada understand what is happening here, the better."
The group met Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, who previously welcomed then-US House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi on her unannounced fly-in to Taipei in August 2022.
The MP confirmed that they had discussed British assistance with Taipei's ambitious submarine programme, which plans to build eight attack subs by 2025.
“It came up in part, but the message we are taking back is that we should assist Taiwan in its defence as much as possible,” Stewart said.
Those comments prompted the Chinese Foreign Ministry to condemn “a serious violation of the one-China principle”.
Along with most countries, the UK follows the 'One-China Policy' of officially recognizing Beijing's sovereignty over all historical Chinese territories, including the self-governing island of Taiwan, which became the only part of the country remaining under the control of the Kuomintang government following the 1949 civil war.
The US is already increasing arms supplies and military cooperation with Taipei despite also formally adhering to the one-China policy, as President Joe Biden's government ramps up confrontation with Beijing.