Alicia Kearns, who heads the British delegation visiting Taiwan, said Friday that the territory «is not alone» and has the right, «like any other democracy,» to engage in dialogue.
After a meeting with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing Wen, in the midst of rising tensions with China, Kearns stressed that Taiwan has gone from being a «novice» in democratic matters to becoming «one of the strongest democracies in the world».
Thus, in what is the first visit of the members of the British parliamentary committee to the island since 2006, he warned that the world «is moving more and more towards authoritarianism», so it is important that «democracies commit themselves to dialogue at parliamentary level».
«We enjoy results at a more global level and we recognize and value the values of our allies in the Indo-Pacific,» said Kearns during his meeting with Tsai, whom he asked to work together, according to the ‘United Daily News’.
In this sense, he stressed that Taiwan «has friends» and «is not alone», while he recalled that the role of the United Kingdom is «to support Taiwan to avoid conflicts», a clear reference to a possible Chinese military intervention in the area.
Tsai, for her part, welcomed the visit, which comes almost four months after the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, visited the island in a visit that raised blisters. «Democratic countries must remain united even in the face of the expansion of authoritarianism,» he said at a press conference.
The Chinese Embassy in the United Kingdom was quick to condemn the visit of the British delegation, which it described as a «flagrant violation of the ‘one China’ principle».
In a statement, a spokesman for the diplomatic legation insisted on China’s «firm stance» and pointed out that the decision to go to Taiwan is a «serious interference in the country’s internal affairs and sends the wrong message to separatist forces seeking Taiwan’s independence».
«Taiwan is an inalienable part of Chinese territory and the Taiwanese issue is purely an internal matter. The ‘one China’ principle is an internationally recognized norm (…) and is also the political basis for the establishment and development of diplomatic relations between China and the United Kingdom,» he stressed.
Therefore, he said, the Chinese government «calls on the UK to maintain its commitment and stop any action that violates this principle». «Those decisions by the UK that undermine China’s interests will carry consequences,» he warned.
