UK Minister Visits Taiwan to ‘Future-Proof’ British Economy

UK Trade Policy Minister Greg Hands in a file photo on March 19, 2022. Michal Wachucik/PA Media

UK trade policy minister Greg Hands arrived in Taiwan on Nov. 7 on a mission to boost trade between the two partners, which he said would help the UK to “future-proof” the British economy.

Hands called Taiwan a “vital [trade] partner” for the UK as the former European Union nation tilts toward the Indo-Pacific.

The UK’s Department for International Trade said Hands’s visit is “a clear signal of the UK’s commitment to boosting UK–Taiwan trade ties.”

“Like the UK, Taiwan is a champion of free and fair trade underpinned by a rules-based global trading system,” the department stated.

The visit follows after the Chinese regime’s London chargé d’affaires issued a trade threat to the UK after Chinese diplomats allegedly beat a Hong Kong protester in Manchester.

The resumption of in-person trade talks following a pause during the COVID-19 pandemic predictably irked Beijing, which doesn’t recognise Taiwan’s sovereignty.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian accused the UK of “sending wrong signals to Taiwan independence separatist forces” and urged the UK to stop official contact with Taiwan.

But Downing Street has defended the visit, stating that the UK has a “long-established trade relationship with Taiwan.”

During Hands’s two-day visit, the minister is expected to meet with President Tsai Ing-wen and co-host the 25th annual UK–Taiwan trade talks.

The Department for International Trade stated that Taiwan is “a key player in global supply chains” as a leading manufacturer of semiconductors.

Hands will use his meetings to “promote diversified, resilient supply chains and greater economic cooperation,” according to the department.

He will also visit the Formosa 2 offshore wind site, a project involving more than 10 British companies.

Innovate UK, a British government body, will sign a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of Economic Affairs in Taiwan, including a £5 million ($5.7 million) funding commitment through 2025 and support to UK businesses via a bespoke “innovation programme” between the UK and Taiwan.

Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen speaks at a ceremony to mark the island's National Day in front of the Presidential Office in Taipei on Oct. 10, 2022. Sam Yeh / AFP via Getty Images

In 2021, bilateral trade between the UK and Taiwan reached a record high of £8.34 billion ($9.56 billion).

According to an official survey published on Nov. 3, 78 percent of UK businesses operating in Taiwan stated that they’re optimistic about the outlook for the next 12 months, while 88 percent were optimistic about the next three years.

Speaking in Beijing, Zhao said the UK should “earnestly respect China’s sovereignty, uphold the one-China principle, stop any forms of official contacts with Taiwan, and stop sending wrong signals to Taiwan independence separatist forces.”

A spokesman for Downing Street told reporters that the UK has a “long-established trade relationship with Taiwan” that’s worth £8 billion a year.

“These are annual talks between the UK and the ministry of economic affairs in Taiwan, we have a vibrant, long-standing relationship on areas like trade and culture, and this will form part of that engagement,” he said.

Beijing insists Taiwan is part of the People’s Republic of China, while Taiwan operates as a sovereign country with its own government, legislature, and judicial systems independent of the communist regime in the mainland.

Like dozens of other countries, the UK doesn’t have formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, but the two jurisdictions have de facto embassies in London and Taipei.

UK–China Tensions

The relationship between the UK and communist China has come under increased strain since Beijing’s rubber-stamp legislature imposed a national security law on Hong Kong, damaging freedom, democracy, and the rule of law in the former British colony.

Beijing last year counter-sanctioned nine British individuals and four entities after the UK joined coordinated sanctions against Chinese officials over human rights abuses in Xinjiang.

The tension heightened further last month after Chinese Consul General Zheng Xiyuan and a group of people who appeared to work at the Chinese Consulate in Manchester dragged Hong Kong protester Bob Chan onto consulate grounds and beat him.

After a UK minister said those responsible will face prosecution or “diplomatic consequences” if police find they have committed crimes, Chargé d’Affaires Yang Xiaoguan said “protecting shelter to the Hong Kong independent elements will only, in the end, bring disaster to Britain,” citing trade relations between the UK and China.