On Aug. 30, the British parliament’s Foreign Affairs Select Committee said “Taiwan is already an independent country” in the report Tilting Horizons: the Integrated Review and the Indo-Pacific. It also said that Taiwan includes “a permanent population, a defined territory, government, and the capacity to enter into relations with other states,” and “it is only lacking greater international recognition.”
Even though British Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs James Cleverly visited China at the same time the report was published, which followed a large gap after the previous visit of a British foreign minister, the parliament’s statement was a slap in the face to China. It showed that the visit was not about paying tribute, but to propagate British values. Member of Parliament Alicia Kearns, the committee’s chairperson, said the report was to “serve as a poignant message to autocratic regimes worldwide that sovereignty cannot be attained through violence or coercion.”
In the past few years, the US has publicly declared its support for the security and self-determination of Taiwan, indicating that a dispute over a UN seat is only about China, which means Taiwan is considered not part of China. The US has also accelerated arms sales to and military cooperation with Taiwan, assisting it in developing solid national defense capabilities. Today, as a close ally of the US, the British declaration means a lot to Taiwan.
With its “special relationship” in strategy and affinity toward the US, Britain has been a partner with Washington, expressing their strategic opinions covertly.
When former president Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) lost China and fled to Taiwan, the US stood by him because of their alliance on the surface. The US even supported Chiang in representing China to keep its permanent seat in the UN. Led by the US, none of the countries in the democratic alliance acknowledged the existence of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Nevertheless, Britain first accepted the PRC in 1950.
Behind this was the US’ need for the PRC’s help in countering the Soviet Union in the Cold War. After the PRC occupied the whole of China, the US wanted to contact it, so the US worked with Britain to announce the declaration first.
However, Mao Zedong (毛澤東) was unaware of the intricacies of the international game and kept fighting against the US, even joining the Korean War. Clearly, the US had failed to convey its message to the PRC. Not until the Zhenbao Island incident, which made the PRC and Soviet Union enemies, did Mao think of cooperation with the US.
It is highly significant for part of the British government to be the first to clearly call Taiwan an independent country in a public document. The report also shows an undeniable truth that Taiwan is an independent nation because it possesses all the elements of a modern nation, including population, territory and sovereignty.
The Taiwanese independence movement does not need to found the country again, but needs to take action to normalize the country. Vice President William Lai (賴清德) as a “political worker for Taiwanese independence” said that “Taiwan is already a sovereign, independent nation called the Republic of China,” so there is no need to declare independence.
Global support toward Taiwan has become much more solid and clear. In response, Taiwanese should also express their self-determination to the world that this nation is already an independent country.
Tommy Lin is the chairman of the Formosa Republican Association.
Translated by Chien Yan-ru
Why is Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) not a “happy camper” these days regarding Taiwan? Taiwanese have not become more “CCP friendly” in response to the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) use of spies and graft by the United Front Work Department, intimidation conducted by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and the Armed Police/Coast Guard, and endless subversive political warfare measures, including cyber-attacks, economic coercion, and diplomatic isolation. The percentage of Taiwanese that prefer the status quo or prefer moving towards independence continues to rise — 76 percent as of December last year. According to National Chengchi University (NCCU) polling, the Taiwanese
It would be absurd to claim to see a silver lining behind every US President Donald Trump cloud. Those clouds are too many, too dark and too dangerous. All the same, viewed from a domestic political perspective, there is a clear emerging UK upside to Trump’s efforts at crashing the post-Cold War order. It might even get a boost from Thursday’s Washington visit by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. In July last year, when Starmer became prime minister, the Labour Party was rigidly on the defensive about Europe. Brexit was seen as an electorally unstable issue for a party whose priority
US President Donald Trump’s return to the White House has brought renewed scrutiny to the Taiwan-US semiconductor relationship with his claim that Taiwan “stole” the US chip business and threats of 100 percent tariffs on foreign-made processors. For Taiwanese and industry leaders, understanding those developments in their full context is crucial while maintaining a clear vision of Taiwan’s role in the global technology ecosystem. The assertion that Taiwan “stole” the US’ semiconductor industry fundamentally misunderstands the evolution of global technology manufacturing. Over the past four decades, Taiwan’s semiconductor industry, led by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), has grown through legitimate means
US President Donald Trump is systematically dismantling the network of multilateral institutions, organizations and agreements that have helped prevent a third world war for more than 70 years. Yet many governments are twisting themselves into knots trying to downplay his actions, insisting that things are not as they seem and that even if they are, confronting the menace in the White House simply is not an option. Disagreement must be carefully disguised to avoid provoking his wrath. For the British political establishment, the convenient excuse is the need to preserve the UK’s “special relationship” with the US. Following their White House
RSS