British Trade Secretary Greg Hands plans to visit Taiwan for a two-day visit. He will meet with President Tsai Ing-wen and attend the 25th annual UK-Taiwan trade talks. Beijing condemned these intentions.
Reuters writes about it.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said Beijing strongly opposes any form of official exchanges between Great Britain and Taiwan.
"We call on the British side to stop all official exchanges with Taiwan and stop sending wrong signals to separatist forces regarding Taiwan independence," he noted.
Taiwanʼs Ministry of Economy declined to comment and said the meetings it organizes are closed to the media.
"The personal visit to Taiwan is a clear signal of commitment to strengthening trade links between Great Britain and Taiwan. Like the United Kingdom, Taiwan is a champion of free and fair trade under the rules-based global trading system," the British Department for International Trade stated.
- On August 3, 2022, Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi arrived in Taiwan for an official one-day visit. She became the highest-ranking U.S. politician to visit Taiwan since 1997. In protest, China imposed sanctions on Pelosi and began four days of military exercises surrounding Taiwan. After these exercises, it announced new ones and declared that they would be "regular" from now on. Taiwan said the latest drills were like a "rehearsal for taking over the island".
- On August 10, the Chinese government published the "White Paper", which it issues every two years. It outlines the countryʼs defense strategy. In a separate bulletin entitled "Taiwan Question and Chinaʼs Unification in a New Era," the Chinese authorities promote the thesis of the inevitability of "complete reunification of the motherland." Beijing emphasizes that it is "ready to create a wide space for peaceful reunification", but does not rule out a forceful scenario of capturing the island, noting that "non-peaceful means will be used as a last resort in a situation where there is no choice."
- Taiwanʼs Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it does not agree with the "one country, two systems" model proposed by China.
- President Biden said that the United States would defend Taiwan in case of an attack by China.