Commons Foreign Affairs Committee Visits Taiwan

The House of Commons Foreign Affairs select committee has confirmed that its members are visiting Taiwan, having traveled there today, returning on 2 December. The committee of MPs is set to meet with President Tsai Ing-wen, as well as Secretary-General of the National Security Council, Wellington Koo and Premier and President of the Executive Yuan Su Tseng-chang.

• Link to statement: https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/78/fore...
• The visit could well see a backlash from Beijing. On the evening of 28 November, UK PM Rishi Sunak delivered as speech to the Lord Mayor's Banquet in the City of London saying that the so-called "golden era" of UK-China relations was over, and said China posed a "systemic challenge" but did not go so far as to label the country a threat as some Conservative hawks had advocated.
• As such it remains unclear what the UK's policy towards Beijing is going to look like in the months and years ahead, although the language does seem softer than that used by Sunak's predecessor Liz Truss, who was believed to be planning to label China a 'threat' before her short term in office ended.
• PM Sunak was one of the few senior European leaders that did not meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G20 Summit in Bali, Indonesia earlier this month.