Taiwan: International Status

Catherine West Excerpts

Thursday 28th November 2024 Commons Chamber

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs (Catherine West)]

May I say how apt it is that you are in the Chair this afternoon, Madam Deputy Speaker? I am grateful to my hon. Friend the Member for East Renfrewshire (Blair McDougall) for securing this important debate and for his first-class speech. I thank hon. Members for their insightful contributions. I will try to respond to all the questions in the course of my speech.

As two thriving democracies, the UK and Taiwan share a unique relationship which is rooted in our shared democratic values, cultural links and deep ties. Despite not having formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan, we have strong unofficial links across a range of issues such as trade, education, science and cultural exchange. In that regard, I must commend my hon. Friend the Member for Rotherham (Sarah Champion) for her adept chairing of the British-Taiwanese all-party parliamentary group, which continues to play a fundamental role in fostering those ties and encouraging greater parliamentary links and friendship—and, indeed, visits—between the peoples of the UK and Taiwan. On that point, we had questions on visits from the two Opposition spokespersons, the hon. Member for Sutton and Cheam (Luke Taylor) and the right hon. Member for Aldridge-Brownhills (Wendy Morton), and I will say that the best visits are the ones that are organised by the friendship groups, without too much interference from Governments.

Those links are driven by common interests such as security and prosperity, trade, innovation, climate action and global health, and in the first three quarters of this year, there were more British visitors to Taiwan than from any other European country. Taiwan-UK trade was worth £8.3 billion in the four quarters to the end of the second quarter of 2024, and Taiwan remains a key destination for UK enterprises in clean energy and professional services. The British Office Taipei and the Taipei Representative Offices in London and Edinburgh support the partnership, in the absence of diplomatic relations.

Members of this House are familiar with recent tensions in the Taiwan strait. The right hon. Member for Chingford and Woodford Green (Sir Iain Duncan Smith) laid them out in his introductory speech and the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) was very clear on that point. Our long-standing position is clear: the issue should be resolved peacefully by people on both sides of the strait, without the threat or use of force or coercion. Peace and stability in the strait matters, not just for the UK but for the wider world. As the FCDO statement in October outlined, recent Chinese military exercises around Taiwan increased tensions and risked dangerous escalation.

The right hon. Member for Chingford and Woodford Green is correct to carefully monitor the increased spending on the People’s Liberation Army, and my hon. Friend the Member for Bolton West (Phil Brickell) is right to warn of the damaging elements of cyber-warfare. A conflict across the strait would, of course, be a human tragedy, or as my hon. Friend the Member for St Helens South and Whiston (Ms Rimmer) said, would have “dangerous consequences”. It would also be devastating to the global economy, with the study by Bloomberg Economics from January 2024, which I think we have all read, estimating that it would cost the global economy $10 trillion, or 10% of global GDP. No country with a high, middle or low income would be shielded from the repercussions of such a crisis. That is why the UK does not support any unilateral attempt to change the status quo across the Taiwan strait.

Taiwan is not just facing pressure in the strait; it is being prevented from participating meaningfully in large sections of the international system. We believe that the people of Taiwan make an invaluable contribution to areas of global concern and that the exclusion of Taiwanese expertise is a loss both to the people of Taiwan and to the people of the UK. I therefore reply to the point made by my hon. Friend the Member for East Renfrewshire in his excellent speech about the importance of Taiwan’s meaningful participation in international organisations, as a member where statehood is not a prerequisite and as an observer or guest where it is.

[Sir Iain Duncan Smith]

The Minister has mentioned the hon. Member for East Renfrewshire and his excellent opening speech. He posed a question that I hope she can answer at some point. Do His Majesty’s Government now believe that a blockade of Taiwan would be considered an act of war?

--- Later in debate ---

[Catherine West]

I can confirm that we have ongoing conversations with allies about all the risks associated with the Taiwan strait, the South China sea, which has also been brought up in this debate, and other borders. Those include borders with India and any other borders where we have serious concerns, because there are a number of threats to global security.

We continue to make the case for Taiwan’s reinstatement to the World Health Assembly as an observer. The UK has restated that several times, including alongside partners in recent G7 Foreign Ministers’ statements. Its inclusion would benefit global health, including through participation in technical meetings and information exchange by the experts. The fact that a growing number of countries joined us in making statements on Taiwan’s inclusion at this year’s World Health Assembly meeting demonstrates that the issue resonates not just in the UK and Taiwan, but with many in the wider international community, and we are pleased to play that leadership role. We would all benefit from learning from Taiwan’s experience in dealing with pandemics, which, as we know, do not respect different geographies.

On that point, we believe that, as Members have said today, there is a misconception in many quarters about what UN General Assembly resolution 2758 from 1971 determined. The UK’s view is that the resolution decided that only the People’s Republic of China should represent China at the United Nations. However, as my hon. Friend the Member for East Renfrewshire said, it made no separate or additional determination on the status of Taiwan and should not therefore be used to preclude Taiwan’s meaningful participation in the UN or the wider international system on the basis that I have already set out. That is why the UK opposes any attempt to broaden the interpretation of resolution 2758 to rewrite history. I do not believe that that would be in the interests of the people of Taiwan, and neither would it be in UK or global interests.

On wider UK-Taiwan collaboration, we will continue to strengthen the UK’s unofficial relationship with Taiwan because both sides derive enormous benefits from it, because the UK is a believer in the importance of free and open trade and, as the hon. Member for Sutton and Cheam said, because the UK and Taiwan have strong cultural ties. Our thriving £8 billion trade and investment relationship encompasses a wide range of goods and services, not least the UK’s export of over £340 million-worth of Scotch whisky. I think that is quite appropriate, given that we had the wonderful maiden speech from my hon. Friend the Member for Paisley and Renfrewshire North (Alison Taylor)—I am sure she is a strong supporter of that wonderful export from her beloved Scotland—and that it took place just two days before St Andrew’s Day. What could be better?

Our enhanced trade partnership that was announced last year, as my hon. Friend the Member for Rotherham mentioned, will further strengthen co-operation in investment, digital trade, renewable energy and net zero. Taiwan produces the vast majority of the world’s most advanced semiconductors that drive our digital economy, and it has a critical place in the technology supply chains that underpin global markets. That is why we want our flourishing science and technology co-operation to continue.

Just recently, the national technology adviser led a delegation of 24 businesses to Taipei for the SEMICON Taiwan 2024 conference, where the UK had its largest country pavilion to date. The two sides also held the annual Dialog Semiconductor and discussed the potential to expand co-operation on semiconductor skills, research and development, and supply chain resilience.

I am pleased to say that we hold regular expert-level talks with Taiwan on a range of other important issues. Hon. Members may have seen that our latest energy dialogue concluded just last week. We are also partners on climate action. Taiwan is a key market for the UK offshore wind sector. Our enhanced trade partnership will strengthen our co-operation on net zero technologies, which are essential for the transition to a clean energy system and for bolstering energy security.

To conclude, this Government are maintaining the UK’s long-standing policy towards Taiwan and relations across the Taiwan strait. I am sure that parliamentary visits by MPs will continue, given the feeling in the House today. Our collaboration with Taiwan is mutually beneficial, which is why we continue to engage with Taiwan within the bounds of our unofficial relationship.

We continue to be a staunch advocate for Taiwan’s meaningful international participation, because Taiwan’s valuable expertise on a wide range of issues can only benefit the international community as we work to tackle shared global challenges. We continue to work closely with our international partners to advocate for peace and stability, and to discourage any activity that undermines the status quo.

Before I finish, I am aware that I did not answer the question about the China audit, which was raised by colleagues today. We expect it to be ready for public discussion in spring 2025, but there is plenty of consultation —official and ministerial—happening in the meantime. The Foreign Affairs Committee will also be approached for comment.

The UK has a critical role to play in supporting continued peace and stability in the strait through these channels. Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker.

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Caroline Nokes)]

I call Blair McDougall to wind up.